Grimlocked
by Beowulf the Novelborn
Summary: I'm Ash Kozuki/Valero. When my mother's past is revealed and I learn that I belong to the rarest breed of Soul Reapers, I get the adventure of a lifetime. Hollows and ghosts wait around every corner as I fight to the end beside my new best friend, Ichigo Kurasaki.
1. Chapter 1: Revelation

Chapter 1: Revelation

"Hurry up Ash! you'll be late for school!"

"I'm already out the door Mom!" I hollered back while Ran out the door, shutting it behind me.

Well, my mom said it, I'm Ash Kozuki. I'm sixteen with reddish brown hair grey eyes, and I stood five foot nine. And this was my first day at a new school in Japan.

You see, my parents were never actually married, and they live on opposite sides of the globe. My mom was Japanese while my father was a full blown Texan. Regardless, they both shared joint custody over me, and I spent most of my life traveling, enough so for me to fluently speak Japanese. Due to my father's business alterations, I would be taking a more permanent vacation to the land of the Rising Sun. My mom had recently moved to a small town outside of Tokyo so today was my first day in a new home. More accurately, today was my first day of school.

Right off the bat, I could tell that this class was a lively bunch. My fellow classmates were so different from each other. The one who caught my attention first was a tall athletic guy with a shock of spiky orange hair. He honestly looked much older than he really was. I could tell that he was the type who consistently played tough guy. Then there was that girl with hair of a similar color a fantastic build and an extremely cheerful appearance. Then there was a _huge _dark skinned guy with brown hair that fell over his eyes. He hardly said a word. And finally there was a petite girl with a serious face and black hair.

Okay, maybe they weren't that lively at first, but that changed when our class had a visitor from another life. On the ceiling a young girl's head was peeking out at us, trying to grab our attention. A ghost!

I almost screamed, but I noticed that not any of the other students could see her. Such a reaction on my first day would make me seem like a mad man. But I did see two exceptions in the room. That orange haired boy and the black haired girl both looked up to see it. The former had an annoyed expression on his face and muttered, "Not again. Why now?"

The girl floated down to him and spoke, "Mr. Ichigo, I need your help! Hollows are after me!"

Ichigo growled, "Don't lead them here! I need seven more minutes until school lets out and I can help you then."

So I wasn't crazy after all. She was real! And so was the ear splitting roar that rattled the building. Not a moment later, the bell rang and Ichigo dashed out the door with the ghost and the girl. I had to see it for myself.

So I followed them and peeked around the corner of the school to see something very unusual. Ichigo tapped his chest with a badge of some sort, then suddenly exited his own body! He wore a black robe and had a giant double edged great sword on his back. Carefully he tapped the ghost's forehead with the bottom of the hilt and told her kindly, "Rest in peace. I hope that you find your family in the Soul Society." The girl nodded and smiled with closed eyes as she gradually disappeared, passing on to the next life.

That roar sounded again as a black form leaped at him from the woods. It was at least fifteen feet tall, was dark purple in color and had a white skull like mask on its face. Its body was more muscular than the Incredible Hulk and walked on it's four limbs like a gorilla. "Hungry!" it bellowed.

Ichigo drew his blade and pointed it at the monster with a single hand, "So you're the no good bastard who was picking on that girl. I won't just sit around and let you get away after that!" He charged the beast and they met with a clash of sword and claw. All went well until a second monster of similar design with green skin, leaped out of nowhere at the girl and it grabbed her in a massive hand.

"Rukia! NO!" Ichigo screamed as he tried to get past the monster in front of him. I had no choice.

"Hey Ugly!" I said as I flipped off the top of the two story building and landed a drop kick on the face of the girl's captor, "Get your filthy paws off of her and go to hell!" The monster looked up with wide eyes before the force of the kick fractured part of its mask and sent him to the ground hard. While it was stunned, I pulled the girl, Rukia, out of its hands.

"Get away from here! It's too dangerous!" she told me. I ignored her and landed one more kick to the demon's jaw as it tried to get back up. The mask shattered and the monster dissolved. Ichigo finished off his and looked to me in surprise. But Rukia beat him to the punch when she asked me a question.

"Who the hell are you?" she growled at me.

"I'm in your class, you should have remembered my name" I began to walk away, "And a thank you would be very much appreciated."

"Ash! Look out!" Ichigo said and I barely had time to dodge the swipe of another two monsters! Actually, Rukia had tackled me and we both escaped the swipe.

"When will these things stop coming?! What the hell are these things?!" I backed up. I had only beaten the other because I caught it by sheer surprise. It wouldn't work a second time.

They closed in on me but I was saved by a flash of black. A woman with long brown hair and the same uniform as Ichigo stopped one beast with three slices of a katana. With one down, she turned to the next and held the flat of the blade against her back.

"Now! Scream Hidora!" The blade flashed and turned into a set of four chains with double edged blades on the ends. The other ends of the chains were attached to the inside of her robes. They suddenly shot out and pierced through the monster, lifting up into the air before constricting like a snake and shattering the mask. With a roar of pain, it disappeared.

And just like that, it was over.

We all just stood there in absolute shock.

The girl bowed down suddenly, "Lady Miharu! Thank you so much!"

"Lady Miharu? OW!" Ichigo was brought back down to a kneeling position by Rukia.

"Show some respect you idiot!" she hissed, "She's as strong as a captain of the 13 Court Guard squads! Don't upset her!"

She sheathed her sword once it had reverted back to a katana, "Please Rukia, there is no need for such formalities now."

"You!" I stood up, suddenly recognizing her, "You have a lot of explaining to do!"

Miharu tensed up as she turned around to see me. "Uh-oh."

"I'm not letting you go anywhere until you tell me what the hell is going on, Mom!"

"Mom?!" Rukia and Ichigo gasped at the same time.

.

My mother met me back at home while I was still in my room. And this time she held something large wrapped in linen cloth.

"Alright now can you tell me?" I asked her.

My mother sighed before she spoke, "I was honestly hoping that I could tell you the truth when you were old enough to begin. I guess fate has its own sense of humor after all."

I jumped back and sat down cross-legged on my bed, "Before anything else, who are you really, you and that Ichigo kid? Are you both Grim Reapers or something?"

"Well, we're not grim but we are reapers all the same, me more so than him. I know that you may see the watches of death as horror movie monsters, granted most people do. But we are not Grim Reapers. Rather we are soul reapers."

"Soul reapers?" I began to sweat a little.

"You do understand the concept of ghosts, passing on, and a spirit world, correct? It is our job to watch over the souls of the departed and bring them to the Soul Society, their afterlife. I...am not exactly human. rather this is merely a false body that can let me exist with the living. In reality, I was born a soul reaper." I said not a word, but motioned for her to continue. She closed her eyes, nodded, and proceeded to exit her false body and took on her true reaper form that I saw before. She slowly unsheathed her sword.

"As a soul reaper, we each have a zanpakto which we have from birth. Each of them has a unique power and a mind and being of their own. And it is through working as a team that we fight to protect the souls still bound to earth. Mine is Hidora, the Hydra." On queue, her sword disappeared and turned into a silver dragon with a long neck and the head of a snake.

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, boy", he hissed calmly to me. I shivered a little and said nothing. For once in my life I had literally nothing to say, and I really wished that such was not the case. It took me at least a minute to think of something to ask her.

"Those things that attacked us. What the hell were they?" I asked.

"Hollows. The ghosts of the deceased who have lost hope in passing on. Once that happens, their hearts become empty and they begin to feed on all souls, living or dead, turning them into hollows as well." I backed up at this.

"That's horrible! And there is nothing we can do about it?!" I raised my voice a little.

"On the contrary, they are still human souls. You can kill the hollow but the soul is purified of all sins as a hollow and returns to the Soul Society as a normal human soul again."

I sighed with relief, "You really scared me there for a second. Wait, a minute! Dad! Is he a soul reaper too?!" I asked walking closer. She smiled and we both sat down on the side of the bed.

"No, but he would have made a great one though. It was seventeen years ago, when he was visiting Japan and he kept on following me around. And there are very few who can see the true form of a soul reaper. I'll admit that I didn't care much for him at first, and such relations were considered taboo. So for a little while, I ignored him, but he'd keep on coming after me and in such a comical way too."

She began to clutch her zanpakto tight, "Then came the day that that menos grande came out of nowhere. Completely caught be by surprise. I was already worn out from a day of killing hollows and I'll admit that I was beat. The menos and I were both wounded, Hidora was broken and I was left powerless at the time. Then low and behold, just as the menos comes in to claim his prize, your damn father comes bursting out of the window of a four story building with a fireman's ax and he strikes the cracks of the mask in just the right place to kill the whole damn thing!" she chuckled at this, "That reckless fool. A mere human standing up like that to a menos grande and _winning, _it was unheard of!But he had a spiritual pressure that bested even some of the court guard captains. So he took me in and nursed me back to health, and it was then that my feelings for him showed. Sure enough, nine months later, you came into the picture. I really wanted to stay with your father to raise you, but the higher-ups at the Soul Society wouldn't allow such a relationship. But they permitted the joint custody."

"Hold it. What does this make me? Am I a human or a soul reaper?" I asked.

"Well...technically both. I mean, you already are a soul reaper, but you don't need a false body to host you because you already have one of your own, So your body and soul are essentially one in the same, and can fully exist in both worlds. And that reminds me. I have something for you." She reached for that bundle of wraps and handed it to me, "I was rather surprised to see how it turned out."

I felt like a child opening a Christmas present. I carefully opened it up to see something magnificent: a scythe. It was five and a half feet tall and was one hundred percent black. two small blade like shapes extended from the top and back of the blade itself. There was a hinge between the handle and the blade, allowing the scythe to open and close. But I knew right away what, or rather who it was.

"My zanpakto!" I gasped to myself. My mom put her hand on my shoulder.

Not long after you were born, he just placed himself in my care without even so much as saying his own name. Actually he didn't say anything at all. But he got the message across clearly: he saw your potential and knew your strength. I felt it too for so many different reasons. As far as I know, no one has ever had a scythe for a Zanpakto, even in its sealed form. And the sheer size is a sign of a strong spiritual pressure, maybe stronger than your father's."

After a short pause, I picked up my Zanpakto and walked out to the backyard. It was actually much lighter than it looked. my hands gripped the metal handle, warm to the touch. I could feel a continuous pulsing from the places of contact, like a heartbeat. I felt like I was being reunited with a long lost twin. The entire thing tried gently to spin itself around in my hands, as though directing me through the motions, signalling me to begin. I was amazed, but remained calm as I began to make a slow swipe to the left.

But it stopped me when I tried to make a right swing. Rather it continued to tug to the left. I began to understand. With such a large weapon, not a single movement could be wasted. Without even speaking, he was saying that the only way to fight with him was through long chain attacks. We reset our position and tried again. This time, I spun myself around to allow another swipe while still using the same motion from the original swing. He directed that swing to my upper left and into a spin, allowing me to swing to the right. That was a total of four slashes while only using the energy from a single strike!

This very blade was alive!

"Remember this", my mother spoke to me, "Don't ever view your Zanpakto as merely a weapon. He is a part of you and above all, he is your partner."

Thinking on this I raised the blade high, now fully unfolded at the hinge. My Zanpakto gleamed in the sunlight. I soon lowered him and looked to my mom.

"I know this may be a lot to take in and I was planning on telling you over time. I just hope that...whatever happens, you know that I'm still the same Miharu Kozuki you knew before."

"No", I said grimly at first, but I turned around with a smile and said, "You're the same Mom I know and love. And as for this new life", I spun my scythe around me in a long chain attack before stopping the blade, "this is totally going to beat my adventures back in Texas!"

(End of Chapter one)

.

Hey Everyone! Beowulf here!

I have been seriously trying to catch up on my Bleach, and frankly I haven't gotten too far. For now I'm trying to build up a good plot for this. But for those of you wondering, this story starts out at the _very _beginning of Bleach, before Ichigo even learns the name of his zanpakto.

As for Ash's zanpakto, he'll be something of the quiet type, more so than Zangetsu. But he'll be backing plenty in his actions rather than words.

For those of you still waiting on my latest chapter of LCJ, I am currently trapped in the biggest writer's block I've ever been in! But fear not! If there is one thing that I will never do, it's abandon a story.


	2. Chapter 2: Possession

Chapter 2: Possession

"So, I bet you thought you could get away, my archenemy!"I gripped my scythe on my back.

"'Why bother getting away? I'll just finish you off right here and now!'" after that was said, I slashed backwards.

"Cut the soliloquies, man. Words won't save your sorry hollow butt!" my blade windmilled over my shoulders in a chain attack that I like to call the Infinity loop, because it makes that figure eight pattern.

"Rest! In! Peace!" I yelled as I made the three final slashes, leaped to the other side of my scythe, and stabbed forward with the blade fully opened.

"Are you really that eager to start fighting?" a voice called. My face went red from humiliation as I looked up to see Ichigo Kurosaki laying casually on the roof watching me the whole time.

Yeah...there actually wasn't any opponent that I was slicing up. It was just me shadow boxing in the back yard, trying to envision the perfect victory which I craved for. But sadly, such was not going to happen anytime soon, so I would have to resort to imaginary battles to fuel my over-adventurous spirit, like I always have, but in a very different way. But I hated when people spied on me in the middle of "combat".

"You gave us quite a surprise two days ago", he continued, "I never thought that there was such a thing as a half-breed soul before."

"Anything else about soul reaping that I ought to know now? You seem experienced enough", I strapped my scythe to my back and he folded up.

"Actually I'm just a substitute reaper. I'm completely human, but Rukia gave me her power in order to save us both. But she lost her powers in the process. I've actually only been in the business for maybe half a week."

"Fascinating", I said with little emotion in my tone, but a gleam in my eyes, "So are you here to alert us of hollows or are you just dropping by?"

"Actually, I'm here to thank you. You saved Rukia back there, probably me too. But Rukia needs to talk to us about some recent apparitions in the city." I assumed my spirit form, the first thing that my mom taught me as a new reaper.

"I don't see why not. I wanted to have a word with Rukia anyways", I leaped up to the roof, and we both hopped back to his house, "She said something about my mom and the so-called court guard captains. You know what she's talking about?"

"She'd mentioned the captains of the Soul Society's guard squads before. Her brother is one from what I hear. Maybe your mother was a captain at some point."

I thought on this in silence as we returned to Ichigo's house (also a small medical clinic) and Ichigo returned to his real body (conveniently hidden in a nearby bush), while I assumed my physical form once more.

"Oh, I almost forgot", Ichigo said glumly with his palm on his face, "Brace yourself for impact." He opened the door and stepped out of the way as fast as possible.

"HELLO! ICHIGO!" a voice hollered and I was sent to the ground by a roundhouse kick!

"I'm over here, Dad!" Ichigo whirled his foot around and sent him rolling back into the house, "Knock it off already! You hurt my friend!"

"You...win this round, kid!" his father struggled to say in a rather comical way as hi body twitched at the bottom of the staircase. I stood up but the world was still spinning.

"I get it. He's that kind of parent. Man, I haven't been this dizzy since that rattlesnake bite." I shook off my dizziness. We went up to Ichigo's room and he locked the door.

"Finally", the closet opened up behind me and my soul nearly jumped out of my body in fright. If there is one thing that ticks me off more than anything else, its a jumpscare.

"Dang it!" I whirled around, "Don't just jump out like that! You scared the living crap out of me!"

"My apologies", Rukia said bluntly, getting down from that bed hidden in Ichigo's closet, "For someone who attacked a hollow unarmed, you scare easily."

"It's not a matter of being afraid. I wasn't scared then because I could see the hollow. If that hollow had attacked me from behind, that would have been a very different story."

"So it's more of a surprise factor", Ichigo elaborated, "You hate surprises?"

"Tell that to the coyote that sneaked up behind me while I was out camping. Yes I hate surprises!" Ichigo raised an eyebrow.

Blah blah blah. we talked about that "surprise factor for the next five minutes. Not worth going into, so I'll just skip to the important stuff.

"Alright! Enough of the coyote!" I ended the conversation, "What I'm really here for is information on my mother. She didn't fill me in on everything. Who is she?"

"I'll tell you in a moment. But I want to know what you know", she poked my forehead, "What did she tell you?" So I told them the story that my mother told me, about how she had met my father, he saved her, and how I came into the picture.

"A menos grande?" Rukia thought out loud, "That's unheard of!"

"That's what my mom said happened. Frankly I don't even know what a menos is, but that's not important. Your turn. Court guard captains. You said something about a connection between them."

Rukia hesitated before she spoke.

"The court guard squads are the protectors of the soul society and consist of almost all soul reapers. Each has several seats, a lieutenant. Finally there was a captain to lead each of them, the strongest in all of the Soul Society. About seventeen years ago, the idea arose of adding a fourteenth court guard squad. But before that, they needed a captain. Lady Miharu was honorary nobility, and met all of the requirements of a captain with flying colors. But for reasons that remained classified to all but the head captain, she declined the offer, and the idea of the new squad was dismissed. As had no squad even before, many referred to her as the Lost Captain. Ever since, she's disappeared for months at a time, sometimes even years. But no one knew why."

Ichigo looked to me, "But now I see why. All of this time she was raising you!"

"Exactly!" Rukia nodded, "But that might prove to be a problem. Half reapers haven't been seen in centuries, and I doubt that the higher-ups will like a new one."

"What's not to like?" I sat back, "I mean, all of you soul reapers have been Japanese throughout the history of the Soul Society, right? When you think about it, I'm the first American soul reaper that ever existed!

"I doubt that would do you much good", Ichigo said.

We would have talked longer had Ichigo's father not come in and say it was time to eat. and I was sent home.

But as I got into bed that night, thinking that I was out of the woods, I received a visitor, for a few seconds anyway.

I flipped around on my bed trying to get comfortable and some guy who was just taller than me just appears in my room.

I screamed and pointed my scythe at him. But I found the handle cold, and the whole weapon shivered. The man wore a long coat with a hood, and the little skin that should have been visible was covered by some sort of armor.

We stood there in silence for a little while before I heard a voice in my mind, "You have heart." The man gave a casual two-fingered salute/wave, and vanished.

.

(The next morning)

It was Thursday, Back to school again.

I walked with Ichigo, Rukia, and Chad. Not one of us said a word about what transpired the day before

"Hey Ichigo!" a cheery voice called, and a girl with long orange hair skidded into the spot beside Ichigo. I remember her from class.

"Oh! Hey Orihime!" Ichigo brightened up. Then the girl looked to me with a smile of delight.

"Hey! You're the new student!" she said happily.

"The name's Ash. Pleasure to meet you!" I nodded with a smile. Dang, she was adorable! Not really my type, but adorable all the same.

It actually seemed like we could go a day without anything weird happening!

That changed at lunch. I walked up to Ichigo and Rukia. I didn't hear them at first. She handed him a very familiar object.

"Oh, sweet! I didn't know that they had Pez dispensers in Japan!" I opened it up, and ate one. Rukia and Ichigo both sweat dropped, and I asked, "What's wrong?"

"Ash...You do realize what you ate right?" Ichigo said.

"That was a substitute soul capsule", Rukia alerted me. The blood drained from my face as I tried to cough it back up.

"Why didn't you put it in a box instead of a candy dispenser?!" I coughed.

"Just relax, it's not going to do anything to you", Rukia assured, "It allows a soul reaper to go on duty while summoning a soul to temporarily inhabit their body." With that she popped a pill into Ichigo's mouth without even looking at him. Ichigo made a sour face and his soul was ejected from his body. The body then stood up on its own, turned to us and smiled in a cheerful way.

"Why hello there! I'm Ichigo Kurusaki!" he waved.

"That doesn't sound like him in the slightest", I deadpanned.

"Early to bed early to rise makes a man healthy and wise! That's my motto!" he continued in that same tone.

"This isn't going to end well for me", Ichigo sweat dropped.

"Me either", then I realized, "Wait a minute, why didn't it work on me?"

"Because your body and soul are essentially one in the same, you can exist with your zanpakto while in physical form. But as such, the only way that your body and soul will ever separate is if you die. So the pill won't be able to summon a substitute soul. You'll be alright", Rukia promised.

"Look, I'll be right back, " I walked away, "I forgot my lunch."

So I sat down and opened up my lunch, Mom's beef ramen, secret family recipe. My favorite! I twirled the chopsticks around in my fingers before I tried to take a bite. But my hand froze and forcefully put the bite back into the thermos before sealing the top.

"Whatever you do don't eat that", a voice with a New Zealand accent said to me. I put my hands over my mouth. _I _said that! But I didn't choose to say it. I looked around to see if anyone was paying any attention to me, and thankfully they weren't.

So I whispered, "Hello?"

"G'day chum!" it responded and I shut my mouth again and briskly walked to the empty locker rooms.

"Oh good gosh. The pill actually did work!" I realized.

"Quite the contrary, partner", he replied, "The pill you ate didn't summon a soul, it _was _a soul! A mod soul to be precise!"

"Oh man! This is freaky on so many levels!" I leaned against the lockers and slid to the ground.

"Just relax man, I can't access your memories. It has been too long since I could use a body!" he/I stretched.

"Hold it man!" I snapped, "You are not sticking around in my skin!"

"Not until you find me a body to use. I'm not going back there again!"

"What's your name?"

"Nemo."

"Care to explain just what a mod soul is, Nemo?" I questioned.

"Souls outfitted with military enhancements, made by the Research Division of the Soul Society. A super soldier soul, if you would. But when a few tests went wrong, and the practice of using corpses was ruled immoral, they went and started exterminating all of us! My friend and I were the only ones that I know escaped. Now all I need is a body to hide in so they can't hunt me down and kill me! Look, I really don't want to stick in this body for very long anyhow. Your zanpakto is giving me the creeps!"

"You can see him? What's he saying?!" I asked.

"Your friend here hasn't spoken even a word to me, but he apparently doesn't want me in here. I've seen a lot of zanpakto in my time, and I've never seen one quite like him before. Speaking of friends, we need to grab my partner and get him in a new body. That carrot top soul reaper isn't going to like this!"

"Oh no", I moaned, "That one was a mod soul too, wasn't it?"

"Whoa! Hello! We have a massive hollow coming in from the gym! My friend is fighting it!"

"Lets go then!" I assumed spirit form and leaped out to the schoolyard where Ichigo's body was being chased by the biggest standard hollow I've ever seen! It was long and had the body of a centipede! Ichigo's body was wounded at the shoulder. Then the real Ichigo came in and both attacked at once, sending the hollow hurtling through the air. The mod dashed ahead of the monster and landed an upward kick to the monster's stomach, sending it flying upwards. I was already above it.

"Surprise!" I yelled and sliced in the same place Ichigo did before, and the hollow purified.

I dropped to the rooftop with a sigh of relief. But Ichigo was on the side of the building, trying to keep his body from falling. But he lost his footing, and I caught him. I quickly pulled out my scythe and anchored it upside down to the wall.

"You at the bottom! Grab the handle!" he said not a word and did so while I pulled Ichigo up. Then I helped him up too and reverted to physical form.

"Well, look who we have here", a voice said and I saw a man in a green robe and a green and white striped hat walking towards the mod soul, "So finally we find you. And what a picture. All beat up, worn out, and all that trouble for nothing." then using his cane, the poked Ichigo's head and the mod soul popped out in the form of a yellow pill the size of a marble which he quickly picked up, "Mission accomplished."

"Hey! What do you think you're doing with that mod soul?" Ichigo began to draw his sword.

"What else is left to do? I gotta destroy it", the man said.

"No way!" I said as we both drew our weapons, "Then tell me what he's done to deserve it! If you can't, then you have no business here!"

"I'm afraid that's not for you to decide", he began to palm the pill until it was snatched away by Rukia.

"I'll be the one who decides that, Kisuke Urahara", she corrected.

"Miss Kuchiki, you can't have that", he lowered the front of his hat.

"Why can't I, Kisuke? Are you saying that it's your policy to seize goods that your customers have already paid for?", she raised an eyebrow.

"I'll give you a full refund. How does that sound?"

"That's okay. I'm completely satisfied by my purchase. Besides, I know, and you know, that you're operating outside of the law. And I also know that it's not your job to recall this mod soul. ", Rukia finished.

The man sighed, "I just hope you know what you're getting involved in. So don't blame me if you get into trouble."

"I won't", Rukia turned, "I've already dealt with a lot of trouble since I've been here."

"Wait a minute, let me see that cane for a moment", I said inspecting the bottom to find a seal, "So that's all I had to do?" I folded up my scythe and put the bottom of the handle to the back of my head.

"Wait, partner! Not yet!" Nemo tried to stop me. I tapped myself and I coughed up the pill.

"I recall you saying that the pills would have no effect on me, Rukia", I glared at her with a twitching eyebrow.

"How was I supposed to know that they were mod souls?"

"How was I supposed to know that the container wasn't a Pez dispenser?!" I snapped back.

Kisuke chuckled, "I told you to go with the standard issue, Rukia. But you had to pick the one with the cute and cuddly animal top. Oh well. See you next time." He vanished behind the building.

.

We were all on our way back to my house to discuss things. For safety's sake, I let Nemo co-inhabit my body for the way home, or at least until we could find him a new body.

"You tried to wreck me!" Ichigo yelled at the pill, "Are you even listening?!"

"I must say that you look awfully silly, yelling at a pill in public", Rukia commented.

"Hey, you have to give him a body first; living or dead", Nemo spoke through me.

"Aha! So all I have to do is find a dead body, and when I find it, BAM! Is he going to get it! Oh what have we here?" he walked over to a trash can to find a stuffed toy lion.

"Now that's just now right", I said, "Who throws out a toy in such good condition like that?"

"So let me get this straight, you're saying a non-living object could work for this right?" Ichigo said picking it up.

"Ha!" Nemo laughed, "There's no way that's going to work!"

"I'm not taking your word for it", Ichigo plopped the pill in the lion's mouth.

Nothing.

"Any ideas?" Ichigo asked holding it by the paw and swinging it around. But then the toy itself resisted the spin!

"Hey that hurt! That really hurt!" I yelled at him.

"I stand corrected", Nemo admitted.

"Ichigo Kurosaki! I hereby challenge you to a no-holds-barred duel! Huh?! How'd you get sot big?! Or did I somehow shrink?! I'm in a super cute plush toy with soft paws and no muscle! This isn't fair!" the lion complained before Ichigo picked him up by the back of the neck.

"Time for some payback for what you were doing to my body earlier!" he snarled at the doll.

"Oh, wait a minute! I got an idea! Next stop, my house!" I stopped him and we all made a mad dash for my house.

"Hi Mom!" I said as I rushed past her on the stairs and I skidded to a stop in my room and I dug through my old toy chest for something I haven't played with in years.

"Here we go!" I popped Nemo out of my body and put him in the battery compartment of the toy, since it had no mouth. It was one of my old Transformer toys, a dark blue Chevy Corvette Stingray named Switchback.

"Ash!" Nemo cried with joy as the toy transformed into robot form, "You're a bloody genius! You too Ichigo! No one's going to suspect this!" He started into a kung fu frenzy shadow boxing match before he turned back into a car and sped around the room on those little rubber tires. Seriously, he was fast!" he transformed in mid drive and commando rolled over to me.

"Mate, this is even better than a false body! I love it!" he reached up and I gave him a soft fist bump.

"Hey! That's not fair!" the stuffed lion complained, "I want to be a car too!"

"So I can just let you get away? Not a chance", Ichigo squeezed his mod soul tight.

"You know", Rukia thought out loud, "when you think about it, Mod souls have a spiritual sensitivity much stronger than any soul reaper. They can detect hollows from miles away! We might be able to pick them up long before we receive a mission to find them!"

"It's official! I'm sticking around!" Nemo said jumping up to the bed.

"Well, he did steal my body for a little while, but I guess it'd be nice to have a new partner."

With Nemo in my care and the situation resolved, I felt much more secure.

It would be another two days before I heard from Ichigo again.

(End of Chapter 2)

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Beowulf here!

I'm telling you guys, ever since I saw Kon, I dreamed of doing the same thing to a Transformer toy.

Right now I'm currently working on part of the zanpakto's powers. If you have any suggestions at all, please let me know through a PM.

That's about it. Please, review, follow, favorite. Only if you want to of course.

Beowulf signing out and souled out!


	3. Chapter 3: Publicity

Chapter 3: Publicity

Lunch period again on Monday morning. I had finished my lunch early and had decided to kick back and listen to my iPod. I had a very nice mix of American and Japanese songs on my playlist and I often deviated between them depending on my mood. Today felt like a soft and sweet kind of day, so I listened to a very calming tune that almost put me to sleep it was so relaxing. I needed it.

"MWA-HA-HA-HA!" a voice yelled beside me. I yelped in shock and fell out of my seat when I looked to the left to see Keigo with his arms crossed, a maniacal grin and his arms crossed, not but four inches away from my ear! I shut off the music and leaped back to my feet in a rather comical fury.

"What in the blazes of hell was that for?!" I barked at him, "If you want my attention, approach me from the front!"

"Come on, don't you get where this is from?" he raised his eyebrow at me.

"Uh...no. Should I?" I deadpanned. Keigo gasped in absolute horror.

"You really have never heard of Spirit Hunter before?! Have you been living in a cave all this time?!" he interrogated me.

"I've been in America for the past six months", I explained.

"That explains it. Spirit Hunter is all about a man named Don Kanoji, who hunts down demons and ghosts. That was his signature laugh! It's the most popular show in Japan!" I looked around to see how several other students were doing the same thing every now and then.

"You don't say", I sweat dropped.

"I know", Ichigo appeared beside me, making me flinch, "They've been at it all day. It's so annoying. And I already told you Keigo, I'm not going."

"How could you _not _want to go?! It's going to be broadcasting live from Kadakura! You live here! You would have to be dead to miss it."

"I guess that makes me a zombie then", Ichigo groaned.

"That makes me a ghost", I said.

"Get lost", Ichigo and I both said at once, "Jinx! Double Jinx! Triple Jinx!"

"But I already went through the trouble of asking Rukia to go!" Keigo said motioning to a smiling Rukia, "Come on! MWA-HA-HA-HA!"

Rukia blushed and said in an adorable way, "No, I'd be too embarrassed to do it!"

"She's doing a good job at blending in", I muttered to Ichigo.

"Quite the little actress", he said back to me.

.

Before I could even protest, I found myself with my friends at the ruins of an abandoned hospital. A massive crowd gathered to see a man with dreadlocks, shades, and an outrageous was Don Kanoji.

"And how is everyone tonight?! You better hold on to your seats babies, 'cause it's time to hear the spirits cry!" he called out as the entire crowd cheered. And we moved in front of the building.

"Why won't that idiot shut up?" I said talking about Keigo who was still doing the laugh.

"He knows it drives me nuts but he does it anyway", Ichigo deadpanned.

"But you guys came anyway", Orihime offered sweetly.

"My dad and sisters go crazy for Spirit Hunter. I couldn't let them go alone", Ichigo looked to his family.

"I'm just here to see what all the commotion's about", I admitted, "I'm not entirely convinced that this man is seeing spirits. For all I know he might just be some guy trying to get some publicity." But Orihime didn't hear me because she ran off to see one of her friends.

"Ichigo! Ash!" a voice called out, and we turned to see Rukia with a freaky look on her face, "MWA-HA-HA-HA!"

"You too?!" Ichogo exclaimed.

"The pandemic is spreading!" I jumped backwards, "Begone Satan! TEMPT ME NOT!"

"Why the serious look? Rukia said with that grin, "As long as you're here you might as well have fun!"

"Having fun is one thing", I cautiously approached, "but this is out of the ordinary even for you!"

"Just use tonight to enjoy yourself. There will be hard battles on the road ahead. By the way, what is this festival all about?"

"You mean you just showed up here without even knowing?!" Ichigo and I both face faulted.

"Look, wouldn't you soul reapers have actually picked up a ghost here?" I asked seriously.

"Not exactly. Jibaku spirits are often tied to places like this. Jibaku spirits are ghosts that dwell within the earth, so it's very rare that soul reapers are able to pinpoint their location. There's only one reason a Jibaku would reveal itself: when it notices that humans are invading its territory."

As if on queue, a loud roar/scream echoed throughout the area, sending chills down my spine.

"That's the cry of a jibaku! So there is one here!" Rukia exclaimed.

"Wait a sec", Ichigo stopped her, "How do you know that sound's not a hollow?"

"There are certain paths along which hollows come into being. One path is when a jibaku spirit with its fierce attachment to the world is left alone and becomes a hollow, much like this one here." As she spoke, a ghastly figure slowly emerged from the front of the building, "He's a whole on the verge of becoming a hollow: a demi-hollow." The figure was ghostly pale and wore chains, a hole was slowly forming on his chest and he screamed in agony. He sounded much more human than hollow now, "But his heart is chained to this hospital, and soon it will be severed."

The jibaku yelled at all of us about not letting anyone come in. Then Don Konoji took the stage by parachuting in from a helicopter. The ghost began to insult him as the spirit hunter leaned in to inspect the ghost with interest.

"So that joker is hunting spirits. He really can see them", I said surprised.

"Just as long as nobody messes with the hole in his chest, he'll have another six months before he becomes a hollow", Rukia assured us.

Suddenly Konoji struck the ghost in the chest with his staff, opening the hole, "Now let's send you over to the other side, baby!" The crowd cheered as the action began right off the bat.

"He's speeding up the hollofication process!" I yelled, "That idiot! I assumed spirit form and leaped out there. Kisuke (who just so happened to be there) popped Ichigo out of his body and we both went for them.

"Konoji you fool!" I said as I tackled the ghost.

"Hey!" Ichigo yelled at the same time as he tackled Konoji.

Our forms flickered for a moment, as we wavered between realms. The audience could actually see our forms for a split second, but not in full detail.

"What's wrong with you kids?!" Konoji yelled at us.

"I guess you can see us too?" Ichigo asked.

"Of course I can! I'm the century's premier spiritualist! Oh wait! I get it! You're both dead, but you're fans! Aren't you?" Konoji guessed.

"Don't make me kill you!" Ichigo grabbed him by the collar. The ghost screamed as it got up.

"No! Are we too late?!" Ichigo forgot about Konoji.

"I've got him!" I barked as I dove for the jibaku and I pinned it to the ground. Then the last thing I ever expected happened: he exploded in my face! The force of the blast sent me flying into the building and my form was silhouetted in the wall (scythe included). The crowd gasped then cheered in surprise as our forms flickered again.

"Just for the record", I unsteadily removed myself from the wall, "we're here to escort that soul back to the afterlife."

"A little too late now", Ichigo scratched the back of his head, "Looks like he went there on his own."

"Oh yeah! Mission accomplished, baby!" Konoji cheered and the crowd went wild.

All of a sudden I heard a high pitched sound almost to high for me to hear. I can't exactly describe what happened, but I detected an unusual form nearby and my instincts were telling me to look up.

"Ichigo! above us!" I warned and we all looked to the newly formed hollow. It's mask was huge compared to its body and it looked something like an over sized frog.

"A hollow. I hope you're ready!" Ichigo drew his sword.

"I was born ready!" I whipped out my scythe and that sound beeped again twice.

"I feel it! I feel something that reeks of the stench of a super dangerous spirit! Now I understand! You're that other spirit's evil lord and you've come here seeking vengeance!"

"Incoming!" I barked as I blocked the hollow's bite with my scythe, "Ichigo, get Konoji out of here while I hold off the hollow!" A fast swipe launched me to the side and the hollow dove after me as our forms flickered again.

"Alright! You asked for it!" I said as I leaped halfway up the building and grappled to the wall. Of course I completely forgot that frogs, even hollow frogs (whatever you would call it) could climb walls and it caught up with me in and slammed me through the wall and back into the hospital. It was fast. Faster than me!

I felt him again...bellow the ground! I dodged out of the way a split second before the Hollow burst into the hall from the lower floor! I don't know how to explain it, but ...I just picked up on his location without seeing or hearing him, like a 3-D sonar display. An anti-jumpscare! I loved it! It dove straight back towards me and got its head stuck in the wall. I took my chance to make a run for it and to protect Konoji. But I stopped before I could round the corner and I listened as Ichigo told Konoji that he had to run.

"Well I...I have to stay", Konoji explained solemnly, "because...because after all I'm the hero." Ichigo and I both deadpanned, "Listen little man, do you have any idea of the ratings that my show pulls in for the network?"

"What the hell do I care?" Ichigo's eyebrow twitched.

"I'll tell you why you should!" Konoji exclaimed, "I've got twenty-five percent! One in every four households is watching my show!"

_I knew it, _I silently face faulted, _This guy really is just after the publicity! _

"And many of those viewers are...children!" I snapped out of it and listened with new interest, "Those children watch my adventures and there hearts are inspired! They see me stand up to evil spirits and learn what true courage is! So don't you get it?! With all of those kids out there watching my show, running isn't an option! Understand?!"

Ichigo raised an eyebrow, "Don Konoji, you're right."

"And I was wrong", I stepped around the corner surprising them both, "All this time I thought that you were some guy who wanted the spotlight. I was wrong about you Konoji." Slowly I put my hands across my chest with a smile, but I didn't do the laugh, "I'm right behind you, pal."

"Excellent! Now let's get out there and crush that monster!" he said going for the exit.

"Hold it!" I said as me and Ichigo both stopped him, "If we fight we do it in here."

"What if the audience gets mixed up in this?" Ichigo told him, "That thing goes after people with high spiritual energy _first, _like the three of us! There's no doubt it will come after us, but we need to fight it in here so no one in the audience will get hurt!"

"Kid I am amazed. For you to have thought things through like that in the heat of battle", he tipped his hat as a roar sounded. And the hollow burst through the floor. Ichigo tried to swing, but got his sword caught in the wall.

"It's too cramped!" he said as the hollow spat a ball of slime that covered his hands, "AAAAAHHH! What the hell is this?!" The hollow struck and Ichigo got his sword caught in its shoulder as it leaped through the wall and carried him up to the roof.

"That's it!" I exclaimed, "We have to fight it on the rooftop! We'll have plenty of open space _and _the audience can catch a glimpse of the action!"

"An excellent idea, Grimm Reaper!" he said.

"I'm not the Grimm Reaper! Now hold on to me!" I said as I ran with his wrist, stabbed my scythe into the upper wall outside and the scythe automatically opened up, swinging us up to the rooftop! Our forms flickered slightly and the crowd below cheered at the sight of their hero somehow swinging with a ghost.

Ichigo had been plastered to the railing and the hollow was about to get him!

"Kid! Throw me!" he said as I gave him a shove forward and he commando rolled in front of Ichigo, keeping the hollow's mouth open with his staff!

"Alright Konoji!" I cheered.

"Ash! You idiot! Konoji, you can't handle it! Get the hell out of here!" Ichigo barked.

"NO!" Konoji replied, "I know my own strength! And I know the difference between my enemy's powers and my own! I must say, you've both made quite the impression on me today, putting the safety of others first! That's great! We're all three of a kind! Let's say we be friends!"

Ichigo lightly face faulted, "Oh, that's alright, really." Suddenly, electricity sparked from Konoji's fist and he roared in determination.

"**Konoji Ultimate Attack: Cannonball!**" an orb of blue energy the size of a golf ball drifted from his palm slowly over to Ichigo and suddenly blew up his slime prison! His staff shattered and he was tossed aside by the hollow.

"Konoji!" Ichigo and I yelled.

"Even if this body is obliterated, so long as I can act as a shield to the children of tomorrow, I shall carry no regrets for the life I have lived. Good luck!" he said as he hit the ground and Ichigo slammed the hollow into the railing.

"Sorry pal, but this is the end!" Ichigo yelled as he raised his sword to charge. But the hollow wasn't finished yet. He blasted another slime bomb at Ichigo's feet, rendering him motionless and distracted as the Hollow mad it's leap!

Time moved in slow motion for a moment. I wouldn't be able to react in time! My scythe whirred with new life and my heart pounded loud enough for me to hear it. Then all of a sudden, everything went into a blur for over four seconds, and by the time I snapped out of it, My scythe was hanging over my back and I was kneeling on my left knee.

"What the hell?!" I gasped as I looked around to see that giant gashes covered the rooftop wherever you looked. Ichigo had been freed of his prison and Don Konoji was unharmed. But the hollow had lost it's legs and arms and was trying to roll away. I tried to go after it, but I was now officially drained of all energy.

"Now, where were we?" Ichigo growled at the hollow before I put my hand up to stop him.

"Ichigo, step on it's back", I said and Ichigo complied, holding the monster in place.

"What's the big deal? I was about to kill it", he said.

"It's not our place to kill it", I said before turning to Konoji, "It's his."

"Me?" he asked.

"Yeah! Like you said, you are the hero. And I've finally found a way to ensure that the audience all sees that", I said as I picked up my scythe and Ichigo and I dragged the hollow over to the railing to where the people would be able to see it. I picked up a metal bar and put on my hood, handing the former to Konoji.

"All you have to do now is break its mask along that crack, and we'll take care of the rest. Ichigo, use your wraps to cover your face! You don't want the world to see!" he suddenly jumped and pulled some wrappings out to cover his face and hair, only letting his eyes show.

"No! Please!" the hollow pleaded.

"Here we go!" I said as I touched Ichigo's hand and the hollow as I partially entered my physical form, and we all took that same state, "Now Konoji!" I said with a distorted voice.

"Evil spirit from the depths of hell, release your hold and depart from the world of the living!" Konoji spun the bar around above his head before he stabbed it down into the fractured mask, destroying it clearly in front of the eyes of the world.

"Now!" said with my arms out, "You must complete the cleansing!" I said as we dragged the dying hollow away.

"Why the hell did you say that to the world?!" Ichgo asked.

"I'm playing along!" I whispered to him, "I'm trying to give this guy the hero's welcome that he deserves!"

We put the hollow down, assuming our spirit forms and Knoji cheered, "That was great! Magnificent! Just magnificent!"

"Don't get too excited", Ichigo said solemnly as the Hollow reverted back to it's human spirit form for a moment.

"Huh?! What the?!" Konoji said as the Hollow began to fully dissolve into the next life in the Soul Society, "He's the one who...but what..."

"He was a hollow", Ichigo said coldly, "With the chain linked to his soul broken, that hole in his chest opened, and he became a monster devoid of conscious. A hollow."

Konoji gasped silently, "That hole! So then...No!" he fell to his knees with tears falling from his cheeks, "So if that's the case, what is it that I've been doing all this time?! Oh, no. I feel...so ashamed of myself!" he sat there sobbing at what he'd done for a few moments.

But I heard the cheering of the crowd below and I helped him up, "It's over now. So what if one more hollow appears somewhere? That's why we're here, the soul reapers! We'll always be around to wipe them out! And you my friend," I pointed to his heart, "are an honorary soul reaper in my book."

"Come on hero", Ichigo told him, "Everybody's waiting. And you better answer them. It's part of a hero's duty after all!"

"You too Ichigo", I said, "We have to make our appearance." I drew my scythe and motioned for Ichigo to touch it with his sword.

"I can't believe I'm actually doing this", he muttered.

"Come on man! It'll be fun!" I said as I touched the handle to Ichigo's blade behind Konoji's back. Our forms flickered to a translucent ghost like state, visible to all.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Konoji called, "Today we have the opportunity to welcome the Reapers! I could not have done this without them, or without you!" I waved my scythe in a greeting to the cheering crowd, "Oh yeah! Mission Accomplished! MWA-HA-HA-HA!" I crossed my arms and did the laugh too, finally catching the fever myself. Ichigo reluctantly followed suit, but didn't dare laugh.

"Quick! Raise your sword!" I whispered to Ichigo and we both raised them high, "Don Konoji! You have proven yourself worthy as the Spirit Hunter! It brings us and all of the afterlife great joy to give you our blessing! No matter where you go, we will be there in spirit to aid you in your deeds! Let us be off, Thantos! And remember..."

"May the spirits always be with you!" Konoji said with me as Ichigo and I faded back into full spirit form. The crowd roared in approval as Konoji left the stage.

"Kids", he walked out of the sight of the crowd and addressed us, "that was a magnificent battle! I stand in awe of your courage and I am amazed by your power! I hope that you both will lend me that power in the future."

"Sure", Ichigo shook his hand, "Once in a while."

"Any time!" I said shaking his hand too.

"Not on a school night you don't!" a voice stated and I shivered as I turned around to see my mother in full spirit form.

"Lady Miharu!" Ichigo stated in alarm.

"Mom! What are you doing here?!" I shivered.

"You put on quite the show, Ash. I never would have expected you to learn the flash step so quickly."

"But how did you know we'd be here?" Ichigo asked.

Mom crossed her arms and laughed her normal laugh, "Did you honestly think that I would miss out on spirit hunter? It is a favorite to many in the Soul Society after all!"

"What do you know?" I said in surprise.

Go figure.

(End of Chapter 3)

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MWA-HA-HA-HA-HA! Beowulf returns!

That's right fellow soul reapers, quincies, vizors and bounts! Grimlocked is officially off of hold! I know I haven't been very busy on this one because of my success in my RWBY fanfic: _Wings of Remnant._ Check it out if you haven't already.

Finally after this pause, I've developed the final details of Ash's zanpacto, and Ash's special involvement in the Serati raid. It's gonna be a little different.

_**.**_

_**.**_

_**SPOILER ALERT!**_

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I've finally reached the point where Ichigo's father is revealed to be a soul reaper, technically making Ichigo a half soul just like Ash. Don't worry though, I've already worked it out.

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_**END SPOILER ALERT!**_

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You guys also don't have to wait too long because I've already worked pretty hard on the next chapter already. So buckle up for Uryu's arrival!

And as always, I will see you in the next post.

BEOWULF SIGNING OUT!


	4. Chapter 4: Remember the Name

Chapter 4: The Quincy

"What the hell?" Ichigo complained, "Another dud."

"I know", I complained turning on my iPod (playing "Another One Bites the Dust", at such an appropriate time), "First they come en' mas, and now they're playing a city-wide game of Whac-a-Mole."

"Whac-a-Mole?" Rukia asked.

"Oh right", I scratched my head, "You guys don't have that arcade game in Japan." That was the second time that a hollow had appeared and then just vanished into thin air. It was driving me nuts. But now was not the time to get upset. If a hollow isn't around, there's no trouble in the town's spiritual side, simple as that.

.

That day, our grades came out and we got to see who was the best of the best.

"Whoa!" I said, "Way to go, Orihime! Third in the class!"

"Eh, let the girls get their high scores," Keigo smirked, "At least none of our gang made a fool of us by being in the top fifty."

"Take another look", his friend pointed to number twenty-three and nineteen.

"WHAT?!" he said horrified, "Ichigo's ranked number twenty-three?! And Ash is number nineteen?! You cheaters! There's no way you possibly could have scored that high!"

"Shut up", Ichigo growled, "I score high on tests because I study. You should try it sometime."

"Ah-ha!" Keigo replied, "So that's what you were doing all those nights when I asked you to hang out! You always said that you were too busy, but the truth is that you were studying like a total nerd! And Ash is even worse!"

I was right behind him in an instant and I jabbed my pointer and middle finger down right behind his collarbone and I squeezed, "Make up your mind you dolt! You were jealous of Ichigo and me a moment ago and now you're saying that a little studying is bad! And I don't recall ever associating with your 'gang'." I let him go and he shook of the stun.

"At least you wouldn't go and do something embarrassing like scoring in the top fifty! Right, Chad old pal!" Keigo elbowed Chad who silently pointed to spot number ten. Keigo and his friend bolted backwards in surprise, "I had no idea I was hanging out with a bunch of geeks and brainiacs! I'm through with all of you!" they ran away.

"They'll be back", Tatsuki sighed.

"I know", I shivered, "That's the freaky part. Say, who got the number one spot?

"Some guy named Ishida", Ichigo read.

"Oh, you mean Uryu Ishida", Orihime said, "He's in our class."

"Dark hair with glasses? Quiet and mysterious?" I asked.

"That's him!" Orihime tilted her head and smiled.

"No offense to the guy, but he kind of creeps me out", I said, "He's _too _quiet."

"Is that so?" a quiet voice almost hissed behind me. I screamed, whirling around to see said person.

"Case and point much?!" I said with my back against the wall.

"I don't think it's a matter of me being quiet", he pushed up his glasses, "It's just a matter of you having an overactive sympathetic nervous system. Not that you'd know what that means."

"So I have a fine-tuned fight or flight response. Better safe than sorry, pal", I glared at him.

"Ash! Ichigo! I need you!" Rukia dashed down the hall and tugged us with her.

"Whoa! What's going on?! Slow down!" I told her.

"No time! We have to catch this hollow before it just vanishes like the others!" she told us.

.

"Again, you dragged us out here and there's no hollow!"

"Stop whining and get back in your body!" she scolded.

"Fine", Ichigo returned to his body, "But would you do something about that stupid soul pager?"

"These false alarms aren't my fault!" Rukia barked, "When it goes off, I have to assume that a hollow's appeared, so I report it. What else can I do?"

"Have it fixed, because it's obviously busted", Ichigo stood up again.

"They don't fix them at-."

"Hold up!" I stopped them, "I think I know the problem. It works, but someone else is getting them before we do. And that someone is right behind us. No use in hiding! Come out!" I turned around to see a boy our age dressed in white.

"So you can detect my exact location even when inside of my pressure bubble. Professional. And good evening, Ichigo, Rukia, and Ash. And I also know that you're able to see spirits, Ichigo."

"How did you know that?" Ichigo gasped.

"For starters, he can see me too. He knows", I inferred. He went tense and looked to our right. I heard a high pitched sound and looked there too. My "echolocation" was activating again.

"Hollow!" I said at the same time as the boy.

Rukia's phone beeped a moment later, "There's a new one here alright. How did you two know?"

"It's that way!" I said pointing to my left just a second before the other guy did.

"Wait a minute", he scowled "You didn't even extend your spiritual energy. How did you pick up on the hollow's location before me? You're not even a soul reaper."

"I don't know!" I replied sternly, "It happens off and on! And for the record I'm half soul reaper on my mother's side!"

"Whatever", he growled. The cross on his bracelet glowed and turned into a bow of pure energy. He pulled back on the string as an arrow formed and flew off in the direction he pointed.

"The signal's gone!" Rukia looked to her phone in shock.

"Just who or what are you?!" Ichigo asked.

"What? You don't recognize him?" I asked, "He's Uryu Ishida, from our class!"

"Quite so", he pushed up his glasses, "I am a Quincy. Soul reapers are my enemy. You are my enemy."

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I told you before that I had a bad feeling about that guy. When I get that feeling, you know that all hell is about to break loose. I find that as something of another anti-jumpscare. I ran into Ichigo the next morning with Orihime, peeking into the home handicraft room. Oddly enough, there was Uryu, sitting with a book.

"I can't believe he's really in the home handicrafts club. Look at him! He's reading, not doing macramé!" Ichigo said in disbelief.

"Yeah, you wait. It looks like Michiru's got a job for him", Orihime said.

"I don't know, he looks more like a chemist than a member of the sewing circle", I said.

Just like that, Uryu took the broken stuffed animal from the girl and whipped out a tool chest of supplies and within seven seconds flat, he sewed the toy back together perfectly.

"Hey! It's almost as good as new! Thanks so much Uryu!"

"It's alright. Don't mention it. In fact, don't talk to me anymore at all."

"Uh…I'll see you later then", poor Michiru walked away despondently.

"That jerk!" I squeezed my fist tight enough to pop my knuckles on both hands, "That heartless bastard doesn't care about the way he treats a girl! Pathetic!"

"He's insane, that's why", Ichigo said as we walked away.

"Wait a sec!" Orihime stopped us, "Do you two and Uryu….have some kind of problem?"

"You could say that", Ichigo said.

"Definitely", I confirmed, "But it's nothing we can't handle peacefully."

"That's good!" she said with a smile as we walked away. But I looked back to see her drastically drooping. She noticed this and tried to put a fake smile on.

.

Right after school I sensed Ichigo and Uryu together, spiritual pressure sensing this time. All of a sudden their presences dispersed as they took opposite directions. Very, very quickly. A blue streak of light came out of an alleyway and sniped down a dark form six blocks away. Uryu had just shot down a hollow. In the other direction I saw the lights of a spirit being purified. Ichigo was busy too.

"Ash!" a familiar voice called out and I saw a little toy car racing down the sidewalk before commando rolling in front of me.

"What's going on out there?" I asked.

"I don't know for certain as to why, but someone just used a pack of hollow bait! This entire town is going to be swarming with hollows soon!"

I smirked, "I get it now. It looks like Uryu has challenged Ichigo to a duel. Maybe it's a race to see who can kill the most hollows."

"That's what I'm thinking. Six o'clock!"

"Already spotted him!" I said as I whipped out my scythe and killed the hollow behind me before my weapon could even finish unfolding, "Damn, this sonar thing is cool! I'm gonna join in the fight. I need you to go find help from either my mom or Kisuke. Maybe both if possible."

He whirled around and peeled out towards my house, and I called after him, "Floor it, Speed Racer!"

My spider sense was tingling again, pointing me towards the school! This was bad. Some of the clubs were still there!

"Alright then. Triple time!" I said as I triple flash stepped into the air above the buildings and straight for the school. I sensed something weird though. That hollow's presence was…spreading, like some sort of bacteria. I reached the school and looked down to see what looked like a zombie apocalypse! Several of the students were shuffling forward like the undead while only three remained untouched. Then I saw the hollow, something that looked like a mix between a squid, and one of the ghosts from Pac Man. It was rapidly firing green "darts" at the students who quickly turned into zombies, charging at the remaining three.

"Don't worry, darlings", the hollow crooned in an old woman's voice, "I won't eat you. You shall live on as part of my army!" One of the girls was hit in the shoulder and began to lose control, grabbing on to the girl beside her. That second girl was Orihime! Tatsuki, also in the group, was busy hammering away at the other students, disabling them all.

"Leave her alone you jerks!" she yelled, "Hey! You stupid blob up there! Pick on someone your own size!"

"I'm afraid that's not how you play the game!" the hollow fired away nailing the girl. It drifted closer and put an arm under Tatsuki's chin, "You shall make a fine puppet."

But Tatsuki still had plenty of fight left. When the hollow least expected it, Tatsuki bit down as hard as she could while the hollow struggled to shake her off for a full five seconds! She fell to the ground unconscious.

"Tatsuki! No!" Orihime cried.

"Forget it!" the old hag said, "You're not even worth controlling! Now die!" a set of darts fired at her and dust flew into the air. The hollow cackled but gasped to see that Tatsuki was gone.

"I'm up here, Blinky!" I called, and the hollow looked to the top of the building to see me, holding poor Tatsuki in a bridal carry.

"Who the hell are you?!" the hag hissed.

"Isn't it obvious?" I asked, "I'm here to take rid the student body of scum like you! I've said it once before today, and I'll say it again: that is no way to treat a girl!"

"A soul reaper. No, a half soul! Interesting, but this girl comes first!" the monster fired.

"I reject!" Orihime said as a triangle shaped shield formed, blocking the shots.

"What?!" the hollow and I gasped.

"Now, Tsubaki! I reject!" a bright red streak shot from Orihime, splitting the hollow down the middle, instantly purifying it. All at once, the poison that was spread to the students disappeared.

Tatsuki stirred in my arms and opened her eyes, "Who's there?"

"So you can see me?" I asked.

"Sort of. You're that guy who helped Konoji, aren't you?"

I stuck my scythe in the ground and decided to play along, "Very perceptive. Hades, at your service."

"Why are you here now?" she asked coughing.

"What you saw before was a hollow, a feral demon that feeds on human souls and the ghosts who have yet to pass on. That wrongly interferes with the balance of life and death. That was incredibly brave, what you just did."

"Well….thank you", she said blushing, "Wait a minute! I'm not dead am I?! "

"No, but you came close", I said, trying to make my distorted voice's laugh sound slightly more heroic, "It's not your time yet. You have a long life to live, Tatsuki. I'll be watching the area for more so I must go."

"Wait!" she said wincing as she clutched her hurt shoulder, "What about Orihime?! Is she alright?!"

"She's safe, and the hollow is no more. But for now you must rest. You've had a rough day. Just don't tell anyone you saw me", I held her closer and gently kissed her on the lips for a moment for dramatic effect, "May the spirits ever be with you." I touched her forehead releasing a sleeping spell that my mom taught me, and Tatsuki went limp.

I sighed with relief, dropping my formal superhero demeanor. But hey, she'd never know it was me, so I figured, "What the heck?"

I looked down to see Kisuke bringing an unconscious Orihime back to his shop, possibly to explain what transpired here. It was obvious that Orihime could see what was really going on. Nemo must have alerted them.

Then I looked up to see hollows flying to a single point in the park. Ichigo and Uryu were in the heat of battle with the swarm, and thankfully not each other. I flash stepped high into the air and dropped down towards the fighting. My zanpcto, emitted an epic high pitched scream as I came down and sliced through a group behind Uryu.

"That makes ten for me! You guys alright?" I asked. I went tense as I picked up something on sonar.

"Uryu. Do you feel that?" I asked.

"I sense it alright…..up there!" he said. I looked up and gasped as the sky above began to crack! A giant blue fragment fell down to the ground and shattered into dust beside me.

"The sky is falling!" I said, finally starting to believe the words of Chicken Little.

"It's a portal!" Uryu stated, "No, it can't be!" A pair of giant white claws reached out and tore open the gate like a shower curtain, "That bait shouldn't have call it!"

What stood before us was the biggest, scariest hollow I've ever seen. It stood as tall as a skyscraper and it wore boots and a mask with a pointy nose, like how we would picture a witch on Halloween. Even its black skin looked like a witch's cloak. It was a horrifying sight.

"What the hell is that thing?!" Ichigo asked horrified. The other hollows rushed forward to catch us off guard. I blocked with my scythe.

"Go! Take that thing down and I'll cover you!" I told them.

"Are you insane?!" Uryu yelled, "They'll kill you!"

I roared and used my flash step to make an x formation, every hollow in that area was killed, "Run that by me again and I'll put you in the crosshair next time! Now go!" I yelled, and they both got far away as fast as they could.

At long last, I could prove my strength in a real hollow battle! I grinned almost in an evil way and flash stepped behind the hollow in the very back, slicing him in half before doing right back to where I was. The hollows all liked to their fallen comrade in shock and I attacked while their backs were turned again!

"Let's dance!" I leaped forward and began an infinity loop as I sliced away at the hollows without relenting. But I didn't just see monsters. I saw the poor souls of those who had been forgotten, those who were devoured. All of them were innocent people, now forced to live in the frames of the hollows. It was like a virus. I had to heal them. I had to save them!

I kept counting my total kills as I fought.

Then one of them caught me from behind, grabbing my right hand just as I was about to switch and I was forced to strike back with my left. Then the other hollows came in right behind the blade and sent me to the ground. The entire hoard tried to crowd in after me.

"No!" I yelled, kicking and squirming from their grasp, but it was too late now, I was done for. Slowly, my spirit energy began to drain away.

Then I heard something, a ringing sound from my right. I reached over and I found my scythe. It was radiating a bright turquois light that pulsed with the ring. I immediately reached out and grasped the handle and everything froze, and faded away.

I found myself in a large dark arena with glimmering black walls. My footsteps echoed on the polished black onyx floor. A turquois line appeared along the walls.

"So, you finally made it", a slightly auto tuned voice said, and the line on the wall spiked and wavered with each word. "Ash Valero. Or should I just call you Ash Kozuki?"

"Who's there?" I reached for my zanpacto only to find that it wasn't there.

"I was honestly hoping I could at least make this dramatic, but it seems that we both don't have much time left. Introductions!" the line disappeared.

A loud guitar riff blasted through the air (a low F) and the walls to my nine o'clock exploded in a display of fiery pixels. They were giant flat screens all along. But in the center of that screen, there was a silhouette. Could be seen rocking out on electric guitar, playing "Through the Fire and Flames". As he finished and let that last note hang through the air, a set of spotlights from the ceiling whirled in a pattern around the arena before all focusing on that silhouette.

I recognized him. It was that man who appeared in my room several days ago! This time he wore a dark grey hoodie Jacket with a system of glowing turquoise cybernetic veins, all connecting to the highlights of the same color. He put his guitar behind his back and began to walk towards me.

"Very well done out there!" he said applauding me.

"Who are you?" I asked, putting my left foot back.

"There's no need to be hostile towards me. I'm with you. Always have been, always will be."

"Answer the question", I said sternly, "Wait, then again, I should be in battle right now! I have to go back!"

"Slow down, tough guy", he stopped me, removing his hood to reveal that it was not armor underneath his clothes. He was a robot! Something like a mix between the terminator and Daft Punk. His eyes were turquois and he held a kind expression. A metal mask over his nose and mouth retracted to reveal a shining silver face with metallic skin that looked shockingly like human skin.

"You'll be back out there in a moment. Actually, you're still out there right now. I just pulled you into this mindscape so we'd have enough time. Your mother and I have trained you well."

"You?" I asked in confusion, and the robot pulled my scythe out from behind his back where his guitar was a moment before, "You. You're my zanpacto!"

"Indeed!" He nodded as I inspected him.

"Well, I was expecting something more…oriental", I confessed.

"Like hell", he said rolling his eyes, "For the record, your mother was not Japanese, she was a soul reaper. On this earth, your father was straight up American. As such, so am I. More of an American concept anyway. As for why I'm here now, I'm just here to get you out of this situation." He handed me his scythe form.

"Thanks", I said, "But what do I do now? I'm being eaten alive by a hoard of hollows. All I've got now is you pinned down on the ground and a sonar."

"You think that sonar is the full extent of your power?" he almost laughed, "That is merely scratching the surface! Your power is…" He whipped out his guitar and strummed a chord so loudly that the force of the shockwave sent me back seven feet, "is sound. Why else do you love music so much? Why else would we be in a place like this? Why else would I have this name?!"

"But what should I do?" I asked as the walls of the arena fell away to reveal that we were on top of a sky scraper overlooking a bright city. Somehow, even with all of the city lights, the stars could be seen as clear as day.

"All you have to do is say my name. Scream it out loud enough for every hollow to hear!" the world disappeared and I found myself on the ground in the hollow hoard again.

"Now echo, Banshi!" I roared and a shockwave emitted from me, blasting the hollows away from me. I found myself standing up again only this time I was wearing my zanpacto's clothes in my size along with the mask.

This was my true Soul Reaper uniform.

I looked in my hands to see my scythe and I gasped. It had grown! The handle was now as tall as I was and the blade was almost as long! But its design had drastically changed.

On the hinge where the blade met the handle, there was a large ring on which the blade could still open and close. The entire thing was a dark metallic grey, with a turquoise blade edge and hinge. It was overall, of cyberpunk design.

"Banshi" (like banshee but with emphasis on both syllables), "So that's your name."

The blade closed up as the hollows approached and I held Banshi backwards and strummed my hand like an electric guitar as he guided me. At the same time, he played a rapid paced guitar solo before letting out a shockwave on the final note!

The force shattered the masks of the hollows beside me.

"Oh, I am loving this!" I said as I switched into melee mode and sliced my way through the swarm faster than ever before! Within minutes, the swarm had been completely purified.

"Ash!" Rukia yelled running over, "You found your zanpacto's name!"

"Yes", I confirmed, "but never mind that. What the hell is that thing?!" I said pointing at the giant hollow that Ichigo and Uryu were trying to fight unsuccessfully.

"It's a monster that is formed from hundreds, maybe thousands of hollows molded and crushed together. It is a menos grande."

The hollow fired a giant red beam at Ichigo who struggled under its power, but suddenly flicked it away and sent a line of blue energy back up the hollow's body and cracking part of its mask!

"But how?!" Uryu gasped. The hollow began to slowly retreat back into its portal. But I hardly paid any mind to that. That name sounded familiar.

Then I remembered what Mom told me, back when she fell in love with Dad. She had almost died at the hands of a menos, but dad leaped out of a building and killed the beast by attacking a massive crack that my mom previously made in its mask.

"My dad…..killed that thing?" I whispered quietly, then I smiled with an evil grin, "Come back here you coward!" Banshi whispered instructions to me, "Echo through the skies! Banshi!"

Banshi leaped out of my hands and his blade split in two down the middle. Before he could hit the ground, I grabbed the bars that extended from his handle, jumped onto the flat of the blades. Before I even knew what his plan was, we blasted off into the sky.

That's right, Banshi can fly. Fast. If you know what the Green goblin looks like flying on his glider, that's essentially what we looked like. The only catch was that I couldn't use my blades or sound abilities while taking flight.

"Aim for the top of its mask", Banshi told me, "That's its weak point!"

I deactivated flight mode and Banshi changed back into his scythe form beneath me. Since he flies handle first, that meant that I wouldn't have to draw the blade back for a strike. But I chose to do it anyway. I spun Banshi around on my right side to build up speed and then I brought it down hard into the skull of the beast. It screamed and tried to shake me off, and I released a blast of force down through the blade as I cracked it further.

I growled at the strain and I slowly began to walk down to front of the mask, dragging Banshi through the mask. My growl grew louder as I struggled to pull.

"Ash! Stop this now! You'll be killed!" Rukia cried out.

"No!" I growled, "If my father, was capable of this," another beam was fired upwards as the hollow tried to shake me, "then so am I!"

"STOP!" Rukia yelled.

"RRAAAAAAAAAUGGH!", I roared as I blasted another shockwave and surged forward down the face of the menos, and finally sliced through its chin and I began to fall.

With one last scream, the hollow's mask exploded and a piece of shrapnel sliced up my left cheek, and my eye! I screamed in pain as I skidded to a halt, using Banshi to slow my fall against the hollow's body. I flopped to the ground and looked up to see the menos releasing thousands of souls, blue ghosts that spiraled in a group all cheering with delight as they were taken back to the Soul Society.

I knelt on the ground holding the left side of my face. My eye was gone. That stupid hollow had gotten his two cents in after all. It hurt. But I didn't care about the pain.

I laughed out of sheer joy, "Take that you worthless hollow! This one's for you, Pops!" Then I buckled over and screamed as the pain suddenly grew worse. It felt like there was acid boiling in that wound! And in moments, I blacked out.

.

When I woke up I could see again and the pain was gone.

"Well, nice to see that you're still among the living", a relaxed voice said, and I looked over to see Kisuke, sitting on a mat.

"How…." I whispered as I touched my left eyelid. It was still there! "You healed me?"

"No, I'm afraid that you've merely returned to your physical form", he said fanning himself, "Your spiritual form on the other hand, was in much more serious shape, bad enough to knock you out for a full day. That wasn't any ordinary shrapnel. That menos was in the process of charging up another cero, when its mask exploded, and that same energy stayed in the fragments for a moment and infected your wounded left eye. Thankfully Orihime was able to heal it enough, but the infection had a slight side effect."

I stood up and went straight to the nearest mirror and changed into spirit form. I gasped as I saw that my eye had indeed healed, but not in the way I expected. My eye was very much in tact, but a ragged scar now crossed it. But over that eye was a piece of a hollow mask. It had grown there, fitting over my eye while still allowing me to see clearly, like a monocle.

"It looks awesome!" I said in glee, surprising the shop owner.

"You're saying you don't want it removed?"

"Of course not! It's a battle scar! Warriors bear them with pride!" I responded.

"That's not what I meant", Kisuke lowered his hat, "With that mask partially over your face, you'd look like an arrancar to any visiting soul reapers, and that might just get you killed."

"Come on. What's the worst that could happen?" I shrugged.

Fate had a sense of humor.

"ASH!" a voice hollered as Nemo raced into the shop, rolling over to me, "Bad news! Rukia's gone!"

(End of Chapter 4)

.

Beowulf here.

I honestly don't have much to say right now since I just posted chapter 3 not but a day ago and frankly nothing much has changed since. I've already started on chapter five so get ready. We're jumping straight to the Serati!

Beowulf out!


	5. Chapter 5: The Ambassadors

Chapter 5: The Ambassador

I raced out into the town in search of my soul reaper friend. Why would she just disappear on us like this?

But something didn't feel right. I senses Ichigo's spiritual pressure. But I felt two others that I've never seen before. Soul reapers. I spotted Ichigo, Uryu, and Rukia by a sidewalk across the street from me. With them were two soul reapers.

One of them was wearing a pair of shades and had a tattoo. His hair was dark red and spikey in a way that reminded me of a pineapple. He was fighting with Ichigo.

The other one was tall, quiet, and had long black hair. He looked astoundingly similar to Rukia. But it hit me then that he was Byakuya Kuchiki, Rukia's brother and the captain of squad six in the court guard squads.

"Roar! Zabimaru!" the red-head yelled as his zanpacto changed into a large toothed, serrated blade. He whipped it forward and it sawed through Ichigo's left shoulder with a sickening sound.

I almost jumped in, but I saw Ichigo stand back up on his own, and a shockwave of his own spiritual pressure hit the battlefield, and he attacked the other man with newfound strength, wounding him. But before he could finish him off, his blade broke, at the hands of Byakuya!

_That was the flash step. I hardly even saw him move! He must be the real deal! _

But Rukia saved Ichigo from the final blow by kicking him away, walking away from him with the others, screaming at him for trying to stop her departure.

"That fool!" I muttered to myself before using Banshi to mechanize my scream, "RUKIA!" I roared, catching the attention of the other two.

"Another interference! What do you say captain? Should I mop the floor with him too?" the redhead struggled.

"No", his partner said, "Whoever it is, they will not attack so long as I'm here. We're done here, Renji."

I growled and nearly went after them, but Mom found me first and held me back, "Ash, I can't allow you to continue."

"What's going to happen to her?!" I said sternly, "Why is she being apprehended?!"

Mom sighed, "She gave her powers to a human."

.

We were back at Kisuke's shop while Ichigo recovered.

"Why?!" I yelled, "Why is it a crime?!"

"Look, I'm afraid that's how it's always been", Kisuke sipped his tea, "It takes time to bring back one's powers unless the substitute soul reaper dies. This infraction, especially among higher squad members, can permanently cripple a squad. That is part of the modern logic anyway."

"What happens now?" I trembled, "Will we ever see her again?"

"That's the problem", Mom gulped, "I don't support this, but this 'crime', is only punishable", she paused for a moment before she almost whispered, "by death."

The teacup shattered in my hand, "There's nothing we can do?! No! We have to save her!"

"The fact is that they don't know the circumstances under which Rukia's powers were lost. If they understand that, then perhaps Rukia's sentence can be lessened, and from there, we can focus on getting her out."

"Then why are we just standing around?" Ichigo groaned as he tried to sit up, "Let's just go in there and beat their asses into the ground!"

"Not a chance!" my mom barked at him, "I'll be the one to take care of this. Under technical terms, I am the level of captain. I can personally speak with the higher-ups and possibly change their minds."

"Great", I slumped, "Now I have to sit around and hold down the fort in the world of the living."

"I never said that", Mom corrected, "If I am a captain, then I will need a lieutenant: YOU. Only the head captain knows of your true identity, and all of the rest know nothing else about you. That's why we're going to the Soul Society in three days."

"In the meantime, I'll be training the others to launch a raid on the Seireitei", Kisuke smirked, "If diplomacy doesn't work first."

"I get your drift. I guess that makes me your eyes on the inside", my eyes gleamed in excitement.

.

Three days later, we exited the portal and I got my first glimpse of the afterlife. The Rukon District looked very similar to an old fashioned Japanese village, and people from every time and age populated it. At the center of it all was a large city wall that stretched for miles.

A giant stood outside. He glanced at my mom, gasped, and then fumbled for a large ram's horn which he blew into to alert the inside of the Sareti.

"Lady Miharu!" he got down on one knee and held one of his axes over his heart, "You have returned!"

"Oh, it has been far too long, Jidanbo. You must have grown another five feet since I last saw you!"

"You flatter me Milady!" he bowed and opened the tiny double doors for us before closing them behind us. Once we were out of the giant's range of hearing, my mom instructed me on the basics.

"Anyone and everyone wearing this dress code is a captain. Remember, so long as we're in public, you are to refer to me as Captain or Sensei. Are we clear?"

"Yes, Captain", I winked at her in understanding.

"Lady Miharu!" a high pitched voice said cheerfully and I looked to see a little girl with pink hair standing on my shoulders.

"What the?!" I fell backwards and she landed on the ground softly.

"Welcome back! Where've you been all this time?" she asked adorably.

"It's good to see you too", my mom ruffled her hair.

"Aw!" I walked up to her and looked her over, "She's too adorable to be a soul reaper!"

"I'd be careful, Ash. She's the lieutenant of squad eleven." I jumped back.

"I heard the horn and I was right inside the gate, so I figured I might as well say hi! Kenny's gonna want to spar with you again!"

"My, my!" a soft voice crooned in a creepy way. I looked to see a man in a captain's uniform with closed eyes, a terrifying smile, and snow white hair, "I was beginning to think we'd never see you around here again, Miharu."

"Gin", Mom turned to him, "Pleasure to see you again."

Shivers raced down my spine. The spiritual pressure from this guy was just plain creepy!

"And it looks like you've managed to pick up an apprentice", he addressed me, "I don't believe I've seen you since Miharu last left six or seven years ago."

"Gin," Mom responded, "I'm here to speak to the head captain about a certain prisoner that you have taken into custody, as of three days ago."

"Rukia Kuchiki", he smiled, "Why does she concern you?"

"Let's just say that I owe her a debt", she pushed up her glasses, "I would like you to lead my Lieutenant to the girl's cell if you don't mind."

"In all due respect, Sensei", I interrupted, "I don't like this guy. I don't care if he is a captain, he gives me the chills. I can find Rukia myself, if you don't mind."

"I can't say that it's the first time I've been told that", Gin chuckled "Take the roof and head towards the repentance cell in the middle of the Seireitei. Along the way you'll see the prison. You just can't miss it.

Without hesitation, I rocketed in that direction, but I quickly swapped out my shoes for my more casual pair. I couldn't stand those sandals!

"Halt! Who goes there?!" The guards stopped me.

"I order you all to let me pass. I have to speak to Rukia."

"We have orders from Lieutenant Abarai to have the prison closed to speak with her himself."

"Maybe you didn't hear me clearly", I began to reach for Banshi's sealed form, "I am a lieutenant, and I come under the orders of the Lost Captain, Miharu Kozuki. Either let me pass or I'll cut you all down!" I sent out a shockwave that blew the guards aside. And I entered the prison, following the voice of Renji. Two more guards were positioned outside of Rukia's cell. They drew their swords and again I blasted them backwards.

"What the hell?!" Renji burst out of the room, "State your name and your unit!"

"Ash?!" Rukia spoke in shock.

"It's me. Lieutenant Abarai, under Miharu Kozuki's orders, you are to leave the prison so I may speak to Rukia."

"Miharu? So she's back?"

"I'm her lieutenant. Your guards didn't take the information well. You may take your leave, Renji", I directed him out the door and he growled at me.

I sat down outside the cell and Rukia turned her head to face me, "You shouldn't have come here."

"Did you honestly believe that I would stand by while you get executed? I owe you a debt, as does Ichigo."

"Ichigo's dead!" Rukia yelled at me, "There's no use in worrying about him now."

"Your substitute is alive and well", I said, making Rukia look up, "And the last I heard from Kisuke, Ichigo discovered his shikai, Zangetsu. He hasn't grown weak. He's grown stronger. Heck the whole gang's gonna be launching a raid once they're all ready. I've got a sneaking suspicion that Ichigo might even beat your bastard brother in a sword fight."

"I doubt it. Even with his shikai, he'd never get past Byakuya's bankai."

My eyebrows raised, "Bankai?"

"The ultimate form of a zanpacto in which every captain with the exception of one knows. Ichigo will never win, let along get into the Seireitei."

"Then I'll get you out of here one way or another. My mother might be able to get through to the head captain. Besides, if I do die trying, my ghost will still have my soul reaper powers. I'll just come back to get you."

"You don't get it!" she yelled at me. I let my spiritual pressure and Rukia lurched forward in pain until I let up.

"Maybe you didn't hear me well enough", I growled as she caught her breath, I whipped out Banshi and sliced through the lock on the door and I walked in folding him up again, "Whether you or anyone else in the soul society like it, you are going to get out of here if I have to drag you every step of the way!" I walked in front of her and put my finger under her chin, "That's an order from a lieutenant, and a friend. You've done nothing to be in here."

"You don't think I know that?" she closed her eyes and growled, "But you'll never make it. My brother will kill you and then me with his bare hands!"

I rolled my eyes and kissed her on the lips and she gasped in shock.

I pulled away after a moment, "You talk too much. Do me a favor and keep your mouth shut. Your brother can-"

"Can what?" a voice said coldly. I screamed and flash stepped back out of the cell and into the hall to see that Byakuya was standing right there!

"I don't know who you are, but you have no clearance to be in here", he calmly hissed.

"Shut up", I growled, "I don't need a lousy captain like you to be interfering with classified affairs. And for the record, I am the lieutenant of Lost Captain Miharu Kozuki. You all need to get with the program."

"You have no place in speaking to a captain in such a manner, boy."

"Subordinates act formal out of fear and/or respect for their higher-ups. I have no respect for a captain that would let his own sister die. And I don't fear you."

"That arrogance is going to be the death of you, boy." Byakuya flash stepped behind me with his sword swinging. At the same time, I flash stepped to my right, blocking his strike with Banshi's handle and the blade hung above Byakuya's neck.

"Case and point, I have the bite to back up my bark. If this was a real battle and you did so much as flinch, my zanpacto's blade would have closed up and snipped your head off before you could remove your blade. You would have been defeated by a lowly lieutenant, Captain Kuchiki." I left a slight cut on the back of his neck for good measure before I removed the blade and walked away from him. I walked out and snapped open Banshi, "Echo through the skies, Banshi!" I called as we took to the skies.

"You're lucky he didn't pull out his bankai", Banshi told me, "And my form's superiority in melee fights isn't going to do you much good against someone with stronger kido abilities. You have to watch what you say."

"So what?" I replied, "He deserved it. That captain is nothing but a cold-hearted bastard, and you know it. Besides, I had to show Rukia what I was really capable of."

"Just be warned, not all of the captains will be so easy to catch off guard. And some of them have much shorter fuses."

"Hey, the only problem I see is the lieutenant of squad eleven. She snuck past my sonar and hopped onto my shoulder without even trying!"

"That is not the point", Banshi corrected as we landed on the edge of an open crater, the training grounds as Mom told me. I stuck the blade in the ground and lowered the handle for me to hold. I focused and activated Banshi's sound powers. But this time I turned on some music, letting my partner act as a boom box. I was up for a little Bruno Mars today, _Locked out of Heaven. _That was the position that Ichigo and his friends would literally be in, ironically.

All of a sudden, sirens blared as the Seireitei was surrounded by a giant white wall, "Intruder alert. We have intruders in the west Rukon District! All squads assume your positions! A captains meeting will begin in one hour!"

"Ichigo", I smiled. He made it earlier than I expected.

I already didn't like the soul reapers here. I already hated Byakuya. Gin Ichimaru scared me beyond death. I didn't like it. Any of it. For all I knew, every captain could be like that.

I looked out over the training grounds to see two people. A teacher and a student were practicing, slowly going through the motions. The man, the teacher, had neat brown hair with glasses, and a kind look on his face.

His student, was a beautiful girl, who looked my age, if not a year younger. Her hair was black and tied up behind her head. She looked to her teacher in admiration, with those wonderful dark brown eyes.

As a whole, she was one of the most adorable girls I had ever seen.

"Alright Momo, we'll give this another try. I won't be going easy on you", the teacher drew his sword.

"Right!" she nodded nervously as she took her stance. They both dove forward with a series of strikes and the girl was keeping up easily. I watched, and eventually I found myself using my sonar to track their movements precisely.

But I silently gasped at something I saw, or rather didn't see: the teacher wasn't even there! He was just empty space! How was it possible?!

Suddenly my sonar picked up a figure who stood right behind Momo, invisible to the naked eye. The fake teacher dashed to Momo's right and she slashed with her sword. The fake disappeared in the blink of an eye and the real teacher appeared right behind Momo, hitting her on top of the head with his zanpacto's scabbard. Momo yelped in surprise as she looked to see her teacher.

"Looks like I win again!" he tilted his head in a kind smile.

"I'm sorry Captain Aizen", Momo got down on her knees, bowing to her teacher, "I've…..failed."

"It's alright, Momo", Aizen knelt down too, and put his hand on her shoulder, "You're still training."

"But I'm just worried that I might not ever be as strong as you", she muttered.

"Maybe you can", Aizen lightly tapped her on the nose and she smiled again.

A captain. I guess I was wrong about my cruel captain assumption after all.

But I then focused back on how he won that battle. I almost assumed that it was invisibility, but that wouldn't explain the fake Aizen. You could see his footprints, you could hear the sound of his blade clashing with hers. Momo even looked like she was taking the recoil of each strike. It occurred to me then that such was the power of Captain Aizen's zanpacto: it could toy with one's sight, touch, hearing, possibly even smell and taste for all I know. In other words, it was a perfect illusion. However powerful it might be, it wasn't enough to let him slip past my sonar when my guard was up. If he caught me by surprise, on the other hand, I wouldn't know until it was too late.

I had successfully worked out how to beat another captain!

On the other hand, Aizen wasn't like the other captains I've encountered thus far. He was much kinder, caring. I saw no reason to label him as a threat of any sort.

"Duty calls", Aizen said to Momo as he flash stepped out to meet the head captain.

"Ash!" a voice called and I looked on my shoulder to see a little black butterfly, a hell butterfly as my mom told me. These little creatures acted like walkie-talkies to the soul reapers, and Mom was calling.

"I'm here. What is it?"

"The captains meeting. The head captain asks that you be present, so as to make a proper introduction. Go to the center of the Sareti right now!" Mom alerted me.

"On it! Echo through the skies! Banshi!" I rocketed into the sky as Momo looked to me in surprise as I waved to her.

.

_Knock, Knock_.

"Come in", a deep elderly voice boomed as the doors to the meeting hall opened. In front of Mom and I were eleven individuals, ten were in rows down the aisle, while an old man sat in a throne at the end of the room. The captains. But I saw that only two were missing, one of which was Gin Ichimaru.

The captains turned to us and muttered in surprise.

"Welcome, Lady Miharu Kozuki. It has been a long time", the head captain stood in greeting.

"Sorry for not informing you all," Mom replied, "but I had some rather urgent matters to attend to."

"I understand", he nodded, "And I see that the boy has grown quickly."

"Nothin' like a little time on the other side of the world of the living to help you learn fast or die faster", I stretched, "Pleasure to meet you all." I glared at Byakuya.

"Captain", he growled, "Why is he here of all people?"

"For a proper introduction, of course!" the guy in the pink robe said casually.

"Correct", Yamamoto told everyone, "This boy is Ash Valero, Miharu's lieutenant who she raised in the world of the living."

"That explains why I've never heard of him", an attractive girl with short black hair said.

"That's right. So long as I reside here in the soul society I will act as a lieutenant, with your permission of course."

"Captain with all due respect, I do not condone the notion of having this reckless boy be a lieutenant!" Byakuya raised his voice a little, "I had a run in with him by Rukia's cell. He tried to fight whenever I attempted to have him removed." I rolled my eyes.

"Is this true?" Yamamoto asked.

"I'm not denying it", I raised an eyebrow, "But with all due respect, I was sent under my Sensei's orders, a captain. I was ordered to interrogate the prisoner _uninterrupted._ Between following the orders of her and the orders of a captain of a squad I'm not associated with, I choose the former. Besides, Byakuya, you flash stepped first in an attempt to slice me in half. I'm obliged to defend myself. Either you can drop the subject now, or you can show the rest of the captains the cut I left on the back of your neck, and reveal the fact that you were defeated by a lowly lieutenant _and _spared to tell about it. It's nothing personal Captain Kuchiki, but I am not under your jurisdiction."

Suddenly, Byakuya flash stepped towards me, but before I could even react, someone huge stepped in the way. The man was tall enough to dunk a basketball without even moving his feet. He had an almost evil glance in his left eye, and an eye patch was over his right. His hair was spikey and a ragged scar ran down his face. It wasn't as thick or deep as mine was, but it was well over twice as long.

A massive zanpacto hung at his belt with a jagged, almost serrated edge. But what struck me the most was this guy's spiritual pressure. It was massive, powerful, and overall, crushing! It was as strong as mine! No, it was even stronger! I looked to his front and saw that he had grabbed Byakuya's blade with his bare hands, and they weren't even bleeding!

"What do you know? There really _is _a gash on the back of your neck. It's been a while since I've seen you this ticked off, Kuchiki", the man said.

"Stand aside", Byakuya said without emotion, "This boy needs to learn respect for his superiors."

"You really don't get it", the man said, "In all of my years as a soul reaper, I've seen only one occasion on which a subordinate has dared challenge a captain in such a manner. And the guy who did wound up being the present day captain of squad eleven. It takes guts to stand up to one of the thirteen and I've seen enough to believe that this boy has that sort of courage. In fact, I don't think he really fears any of us. And judging by your wound, I'd say he has the strength to back up his talk."

"What are you getting at, Kenpachi?" Byakuya narrowed his eyes.

"You may see an arrogant and boy who needs to be taught a lesson. But I see a young man who's got more courage in his blade than most soul reapers could ever hope to have", the man released the sword and Byakuya sheathed it as he walked back to his place. The man turned to me and finished, "You have my respect."

"Thank you, Captain…." I hesitated as I tried to remember his name.

"Kenpachi Zaraki", he smiled at me.

"Kenny….So that pink haired girl was your lieutenant. It's been a while since someone has snuck up on me like that."

Kenpachi laughed, "You know what, I kind of like you. You would have made a fine high ranking seat in squad eleven, kid."

"Ash", Mom looked to me, "I understand that you saw a conflict that had to be resolved, but please try to refrain from similar actions in the future."

"I will try to restrain myself. As you wish, Sensei", I responded, bowing formally and taking my position at her side.

"In short, Head captain," Kenpachi turned to Yamamoto, "I second the decision to make this boy a lieutenant!"

"I too second this", I couldn't see who spoke at first, but then I looked to the very end of the aisle. I was shocked to see a boy that was my age, if not younger than me! His hair was long and spikey, and it was colored so flawlessly white that it would have made freshly fallen snow dull in comparison. A pair of intelligent, icy green eyes looked over to me, and he stood several inches shorter than me.

"Thank you. And you are?" I asked.

"Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya of Squad Ten", he nodded.

"Apart from Byakuya, are there any other objections?" the head captain asked. No one responded, "Very well then" he tossed me some sort of badge, "Then by the decision of the thirteen captains, I hereby bestow upon you the title of Lieutenant of the Lost Guard, the honorary Squad Fourteen."

"Thank you all", I bowed as I carefully wrapped the cloth around my neck and the badge was displayed on my right. The captains looked at me with surprise and discomfort, "Is something wrong?" I asked.

"I suppose you might not be aware of our customs here since you were raised in the World of the Living. Around here," Yamamoto said, "it is often seen as tradition for lieutenants to wear their badges on their left arm. Yet you wear yours on your neck."

"Oh, sorry. For most of my life I've lived in a place on the other side of the planet. It's mostly desert out there and the people who live there usually wear their bandana's like this. I even found myself doing the same thing. Now it's more of a reminder of that place. However, if it is a tradition here then I'll follow suit if you so wish." I began to remove it, but Yamamoto stopped me.

"That won't be necessary. While it is true that it is merely tradition, it is not exactly set in stone. There are some soul reapers who freely choose a different form of dress code, such as Captain Shunsui. If this a part of your ways, then you may do so too."

"Again, thank you", I bowed.

There was a knock at the door. I paled at the man who stood there.

"So, you are here, Gin Ichimaru, captain of Squad Three", Yamamoto greeted him glumly.

"What a surprise", Gin mused, "The thirteen captains that govern the Soul Society, all here just for me? I'm not sure whether I should be flattered or appalled. Even Miharu and young Ash as well? Oh, but I see that the captain of Squad Thirteen is missing."

"He isn't feeling well today", the blind captain replied.

"Aw, that's too bad."

"Enough. What exactly is this all about?" Mom asked, "I was not informed."

"Gin met a group of ryoka outside the gate and they are still alive", the man with the giant mask said.

"But that is aside the point. The problem is not that you allowed the ryoka to live. It is the fact that you acted alone, without permission. Can you defend yourself?" Yamamoto asked.

"I cannot", Gin replied with that smile still on his face, "I take full responsibility and am willing to accept the consequences that you see fit."

"Hold it, Gin", Aizen looked to him, "I still have a question that I want to ask you." Only then did Gin's smile waver to reveal a look of discomfort.

All of a sudden the alarms rang, "Alert! The Seireitei has been breached! All units to your battle stations!"

"It can't be…the same ryoka from before?!" Kenpachi wondered before a wicked mile crossed his lips and he dashed out the door. Yamamoto dismissed us all to battle stations. But I still had Gin on my mind.

"Saved by the alarm, eh Ichimaru? Why don't you just admit it? You're not going to get away with this." Captain Aizen was addressing Gin as everyone else left.

"You're not making much sense, Sosuke", Gin smiled.

"I want to make this clear for you Gin Ichimaru. Don't underestimate me", Aizen pushed up his glasses before walking away, soon followed by Gin. Only then did I notice that Toshiro Hitsugaya was standing behind Gin, listening in on the entire conversation. A look of suspicion was in his eyes.

"You look like you just ran into a menos", he looked to me.

"I almost wish I had", I muttered, "You felt it too, didn't you?"

"I'm just glad that someone else shares my sudden distrust for him."

"'Mistrust' is sugarcoating it", I shivered, sitting down on the steps, "Please don't take this the wrong way, but Kenpachi was very right in what he said, I'm not scared of standing up to most of the captains. In fact the only thing that really gets to me is a good old fashioned jumpscare. I don't know exactly why, but in all of my life, Captain Gin Ichimaru is the first and only being that has ever left me absolutely terrified."

"Toshiro! Ash! Look at this!" Mom called and she pulled me aside to watch the spectacle.

High up in the sky was what looked like a ball of lightning. The entire Seireitei was surrounded by a shield that repels spirit energy. But that energy ball high up there pierced straight through the barrier and exploded into four parts that scattered through the Seireitei.

"He actually did it!" Mom said in surprise.

"That's Ichigo for you. He has a habit of doing the impossible", I smiled, "Wait a minute, I'm picking up Ichigo….Orihime and Uryu. What's Chad doing here?" I said pointing out the four dots, "Ichigo's with some guy I've never seen before, and I can't tell who's alone in the last one."

"If someone is with them, I can only assume that one of them is a Shiba, a fireworks expert. That damn Kukaku always has the craziest dramatic entries up her sleeve", Mom fixed her glasses.

"So what now?" I asked hopping onto the railing.

"Keep an eye on their forces for now and pretend we're with them. The Captains will be on hair trigger."

(End of Chapter 5)

.

(Flash steps in)

HEEEYY EVERYBODY! Beowulf here!

I know the jump to the Seireitei was sudden, but I had to get moving on this!

Now, as of late, I've developed this crazy idea for this story. I actually have plans to do a slight crossover with one of my other fan fics during the Hueco Mundo arc.

You see, as of late, I've been binge watching leach and I just finished said story arc. Then when I looked back to my other story, I saw so many fricking similarities that it terrified me! Then it hit me, what if one of my characters could cross over into Grimlocked? It makes perfect sense!

If you have any comments on whether or not I should do this, an if so, how, please leave a PM or a review if you want to. I would love to hear your feedback!

Also, if you haven't already done so, check out my other stories, and maybe you can tell which one I plan to cross with.

A special thanks to all of my supporters from all of my stories. Especially to my inspiration, Monty Oum (Rest in Peace).

Until next time, all hell breaks loose behind the Seireitei walls! What happens next will be most exciting!

This is Beowulf and the OC crew signing out.


	6. Chapter 6: Cold Blood

Grimlocked Chapter 6: Cold Blood

"**Hado Number One! SHO!**" I barked aiming an open palm at a large boulder. But the hado released its energy in a widespread ripple that merely forced all of the dust off of the rock. I growled in frustration.

"Don't beat yourself down like that. Most people can't even release the thrust on their first try", a sweet voice said. She was as tall as me, and as far as a human's rate of aging, I'd say she was nineteen (but I knew that soul reapers age at a different rate than humans). She had long orange blonde hair and blue eyes. She had a very curvaceous figure and had quite possibly the largest breasts I've ever seen. She was Rangiku, Lieutenant of Squad Ten, Toshiro's squad. While Mom was busy with Yamamoto, she had asked Toshiro if his lieutenant could begin instructing me in Kido techniques. Since He had yet to be given orders from Yamamoto, he agreed.

"**SHO!"** I said twice more as I tried to do a one two fire succession, "If that really is the case, show me something big like a level ninety."

"Sorry, but that's a no-can-do", Rangiku said in a joking tone, while shaking a finger at me, "Level ninety hado are reserved for captains only."

"Dang it!" I said as I released a shockwave into the rock, shattering it. "You know what, forget number one. Banshi's shockwave is good enough."

"So that's your Zanpacto's name. But I don't quite know how to translate that", she held her chin.

"It's a rough pronunciation of the word banshee. Old legends say that a banshee was a ghost with a scream that could terrify even the bravest of souls. He's a sound based Zanpacto. But back to the point, if I'm progressing that quickly, I want to go in headstrong out of the gate. I want to feel the thunder!" I smacked my fist into an open palm and I released a light shockwave.

"Alright, Ash. You asked for it. I'll say the incantation and give you a toned down demonstration. You follow after me. If you can progress that fast then you'll like this one."

"Hit me up!" I said determined.

"_Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south!_" A red glowing ball formed in her hands, "**Hado Thirty-one: Shakkaho!" ** She launched the ball into a Cliffside causing a rockslide a hundred yards away.

"That's what I'm talking about!" I said as I repeated the incantation. I put a massive amount of energy into this one. The ball rapidly formed, before suddenly choking and exploding in my face! I yelped in shock before I hit the ground, missing my eyelashes.

"I haven't someone mess up like that since Renji tried to escape Kenpachi!" Rangiku laughed hysterically, "I tried to warn you!"

"Can it Matsumoto!" I jumped back to my feet in a comical fury, "That was only my first try!"

"I'll admit, your spiritual energy is almost as strong as Kenpachi's seal mode, but you overshot that one. You put so much energy into it so quickly that you snuffed out the attack. Try thinking of it as a candle and a vat of oil. A little bit will enlarge the flame, too much at once will snuff it out. If you think you can throw so much power without a charge up, then you're a lost cause. Just try to suppress it a little." Rangiku yawned and sat down against a boulder with her eyes closed. I knit my eyebrows together as I slipped a list of hado from her pocket.

"If that was just a small one then I'm gonna step up my game. I'll show her what I can do!" I flipped through the book and found a hado with one mouthful of a name.

My mouth nearly began to water as I read its name, long, but incredibly subtle as to what it did. I even found out that the incantation rhymed a little bit in English. Banshi shivered with excitement on my back.

"Do it", was all that he said to me before I nodded, closed my eyes and started the incantation in English.

"_The hero who inspires all the land. Shadows blacken out the sun. The dragon's roar shakes the sky, until the deed is done…._"

This caught Rangiku's attention, "Hey…what are you up to? I didn't give you an incantation. And either way, that's not how you'd say it. Wait. MY BOOK!" she hopped up, but I didn't notice.

"_The tyrant sends his skeletons to track him down and fight. They fall because this man is born of heaven's jagged light!"_

"Stop! Growl, Haineko!" Rangiku's sword turned into a cloud of ashes that blew my way.

I opened my eyes again, pointed my open palm to the sky, and yelled in Japanese, "**Hado Number Eighty-Eight:** **Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō!" **

"Eighty-eight?!" she gasped, pulling Haineko back as a flash of lightning shot out of my hand before turning into a beam of pure electric power!

I laughed in sheer delight. "This is….. More. I can still put in so much more!" I flooded my spirit energy into this and the beam doubled in size!

I roared a battle cry as I took out Banshi with my left hand and stabbed the beam with the tip of his blade (per his instructions, of course), "**Thunder Clap!"**

The beam suddenly focused in before it disappeared, exploding with a shockwave that knocked down several walls in the Seireitei and blew Rangiku back a hundred yards! Thunder roared through the entire Seireitei.

"WOOO! Did you see that?!" I cheered, playing M.C. Hammer's _Can't Touch This, _in my head. No one was looking so I kind of cut loose and stopped when the song reached the first, "Hammer Time!" Seriously, I felt that freaking pumped!

Right as I finished that dance, I flopped onto my back in the grass. I was in a hard sweat and I was breathing heavy.

But as fate would have it, I had to jump back to my feet as I picked up someone coming at me at high speeds. I fired off a shockwave to my right and someone flashstepped away, and appeared again behind me.

I whirled around to grab the hand of a girl with short black hair that had two long braids in the back. She was slim and very athletic and wore a skintight jumpsuit. She had the pure aura of a kung-fu master. In a nutshell, I found her very attractive. My scythe was now right behind her neck, close enough for me to kill her in an instant. We stood there in that position for a few seconds in silence.

"I just thought that Captain Kuchiki was off his game. But it appears that I was wrong", she closed her eyes smiling.

"Do I know you? No, wait you're….you're a captain! I remember seeing you at the meeting. And not just any captain. You must be the head of the stealth force."

"Not many people can actually see through that Kido technique", she confessed, "It has been a long time since someone has had me in a death lock so quickly."

"Looks like I've already beaten another captain", I smiled.

"Not quite", she said and I looked down to my sternum to see her other hand pointing at a butterfly insignia. On her hand was a tiny mettle claw that encompassed her middle finger.

"Is that…your zanpacto?"

"Indeed. Suzumebachi leaves a mark on a successful hit. You didn't even feel it. However, if I were to stab you in that same place a second time, the poison of Suzumebachi would kill you within seconds, no questions asked, no hope for survival. I have won. Unless of course that fearless demeanor of yours wants to try something brave."

My hand holding Banshi trembled, but I tried not to show it. But eventually, I lowered Banshi, folded him against my back, and lowered my hands in surrender.

"Wise decision", she smiled, "Now that you're here, I want answers. Was it you who made that hado a moment ago?"

"Yes, but why is that important?" I said.

"We just needed to know whether or not it was a ryoka", she removed her claw and it changed back into a sheathed Zanpacto, "But I'm impressed by you. According to your master, you've never had a successful hado before, and yet you pulled out the biggest hado eighty-eight that I've ever seen. More than that, even some of the captains haven't been able to detect me like that. I find that you are an interesting one. You have talent."

"Thank you, Captain…..what was your name? I never heard it."

"Soifon", she said simply.

"Right. Thank you, Captain Soifon. You have my respect."

"That draws up another point", she looked me square in the eyes motioning for me to stand, "You talk about the captains with absolute disregard for rank, and you even challenged the authority of Captain Kuchiki without hesitation. Why?"

I stood in silence for a moment before turning to the sunset, "You heard what I said before. I don't care about rank at all. The rank of lieutenant, captain, or head captain, I see no difference. They're all just titles that don't mean squat about what someone is really capable of. I don't respect someone because of their rank. I don't fear you, the head captain, or anyone. The only exception is that damn Gin Ichimaru. He scares be beyond the fires of Hell, if such a place even exists."

"Excuse me?" Soifon began to unsheathe her sword, "Captains are the honorary rulers of the Soul Society; wise, strong, protective. Rank has everything to do with it!"

"But does their rank make up who they are?" I questioned, "No, it's who they are that gives them their rank. But even here, the chain of command is partially based on who has a Bankai. This merely gives subordinates a reason to fear the captains. But I don't fear you, so I can only judge by how respectable a person is. Look at Byakuya Kuchiki. I don't care what the others think, I see something twisted and evil in allowing one's own sister to be sentenced to death without doing so much as pleading for her life. That gives me no reason to respect him. That is what allows me to challenge a person without regard to rank. More often than not, I have succeeded. But of course, you came along and defeated me, fair and square and with honorable purpose. That is what gives me reason to respect you." I paused for a moment, "Just because someone is high in command, doesn't necessarily mean that they deserve respect. Whether or not they do is something that we need to find out for ourselves."

Soifon just stood there staring into my eyes, and she eventually sheathed her Suzumebachi, "I see. That is a reasonable way of thinking."

"ASH!" a voice called and I looked to see Rangiku dusting herself off, "No offense to you, but that is the last time that I instruct you in using Kido. You're gonna need a captain with the destruction you'd cause." She took her booklet out of my pocket and hid it in her cleavage nonchalantly. My nose bled a little but I regained my composure.

"I take that as a compliment", I said proudly. I suddenly squeaked in shock after I turned around and felt something, huge and soft go _squish_ against my back as Rangiku hugged me from behind.

"Nevertheless that was the coolest Hado Eighty-Eight I've ever seen!" she said with delight, "You deserve a treat for such a performance."

"Rangiku! Let's be reasonable about this!" I squirmed in vain, "Don't put my hand there!"

"That's enough, Rangiku", Soifon stepped in calmly, "Perhaps I can be the one to mentor him in Kido. I have more experience than you, Lieutenant."

"Fine by me!" she smiled then squeezed me tighter, "Maybe we can hang out some other time."

"Uh….sure! Whatever you say!" I said nervously as she ran off happily. The steam building up inside of me released all at once and my wobbly knees gave way as I drifted back to the ground.

"Where does this put Rangiku on your respect scale?" Soifon asked out of pure curiosity.

"Well, about my respect algorithm, girls and ladies put a very different spin on the ball", I cried comically, "I just didn't have the heart to turn her down. But I'd say she's more of a girl now than a lady."

"And where does that put me?" Soifon put her hand on her hip and raised an eyebrow.

"You? I see a young lady", I replied with a smile.

Suddenly, Soifon flashstepped beside me and left a light kiss on my left cheek. She pulled away, and I saw Suzumebachi being sheathed again. I felt a light prick on my neck a moment before, and I knew that there was a death mark right there.

"Then I take you in as an honorary student. I believe that you are worthy of my respect, as you put it. With your sensei's permission, we can begin training once the Ryoka situation is dealt with." She tossed me a small booklet that read, "A Captain's Guide to Kido."

"I look forward to working with you, Captain", I told her, and she flashstepped out of my sight.

I felt my left cheek where she had kissed me a moment ago. I smiled, and said, "Echo to the skies! Banshi!" my Zanpacto took flight form and I flew through the Seireitei.

But I saw a commotion down below in the barracks and I dropped in to see Momo and a blonde haired man standing around a wounded soul reaper.

.

"It's Renji!" Momo cried in shock.

"When I found him, he was unconscious", the other guy said, "If only I had gotten there in time to fight alongside him, this never would have happened!"

"Don't blame yourself, Izuru! None of this is your fault!" Momo told him.

"At any rate, the main thing now is to take care of him. I'll go make the call for the emergency relief team."

"That is out of the question", a cold voice replied, and we all looked to see Byakuya Kuchiki in the doorway, "I want Renji taken to prison."

"But Captain, Renji's been badly hurt fighting Ryoka by himself!" Momo complained, "Without treatment-"

"Then I'm afraid he'll die", Byakuya said coldly, "It was his choice to enter that fight alone, and in such a situation, defeat is forbidden. I have no use for a fool who does not understand that."

"You sicken me", I said dropping from the rooftop and stepping in behind him.

"Hey! You have no clearance to be here!" Izuru stated.

"I'm a Lieutenant, Blondie", I growled.

"You again", Byakuya hissed, "I should have killed you as soon as Kenpachi released my blade."

"You do realize that you just insulted yourself, right?" I mocked, "You tried to kill me one on one before and I defeated you. If defeat is truly as forbidden as you say, why do you count yourself out?"

"What the hell are you saying?" Izuru tried to stop me, "You can't defeat a captain!"

"Then look at the back of Kuchiki's neck. I could have decapitated you, Byakuya, but left you with that scar to remind you that no captain other than my Senei crosses me, especially not scum like you. Renji will receive medical attention outside of the confines of prison. I have the right to vouch for a fellow lieutenant."

"That does it", Byakuya said in an enraged tone as he whipped out his sword, "You have defied me long enough Valero, but no more! I hereby challenge you to a duel to the death!" Momo gasped in horror.

I chuckled, then laughed at him, "You're on this time Kuchiki. I won't hold back on you any longer! You two," I turned to Momo and Izuru, "will serve as witnesses to tell the head captain that Byakuya Kuchiki challenged me. If that is the case, then my fight will be justified!"

_ZIP!_ I looked back suddenly to see that Byakuya had flashstepped behind me and I dashed forward into the courtyard.

"That is the cheapest trick in the book: starting before both opponents are ready! But I guess I can't blame you. I must have finally pushed you past your breaking point."

"You have", Byakuya said emotionlessly. We both flashstepped outside into the training grounds, "Once I defeat you, I will have you die alongside Rukia. You will die by the Sokyoku."

"But when I beat you, you will recall your support of the execution. And I'll do it with the world watching!" I spun Banshi around in my hands as he unfolded. His blade closed up and I strummed down a low F chord before shooting high in the notes and playing back down two octaves and finishing with an F that was one octave higher than the first. That last note sent a shockwave through the battlefield, drawing the attention of the nearby squad members.

I flipped Banshi right side up, "I'm gonna enjoy this, Byakuya. Your move."

"I still have one last question for you", Byakuya said, "Why is it that you refuse to accept my decisions?"

"If you recall, I was raised on the complete opposite side of the planet. I was raise in a place where there is no such thing as nobility. Everyone is free of tyranny, everyone is made equal, and everyone has unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Your ways are not mine, and I will not sit around and watch you hold your power over your family and subordinates any longer!"

Byakuya gritted his teeth in anger as he flashstepped behind me, and my scythe was already behind my back to block him. Again he swung, and again I blocked without even so much as looking.

My sonar allowed me to have a perfect readout of Byakuya without even looking. But that was merely air base sonar. The real secret was the sonar I sent through the _ground!_ Sounds travel several times faster through solid objects. The waves silently travel through the ground, all the way through Byakuya's body, and back before my air based sonar can even come halfway between us!

"If you really want to kill me so badly, then step up your game! If you don't, I'll take you down before you can release your shikai!"

"Scatter, Zenbonzakura." His blade suddenly dissolved into pink peach blossoms. This made me turn around.

"Okay, now you've managed to surprise me", I said as the petals blew in the wind. Suddenly, three of them zipped past me and I felt them tear into my side!

I growled, "What is this?"

"This is my shikai. These are not flower petals. They are all tiny blades that reflect any source of light, so they only look like peach blossoms."

I smiled, "I never thought I'd find myself saying this to you, but that is a spectacular Zanpacto, and I know that it will only get better. That is if I don't beat you down before you can use your bankai."

Byakuya looked to his blades for a moment, then nodded, "My Zanpacto appreciates your first compliment, but it will be your last." The entire swarm blew forward.

"**SHO**!" I yelled blowing the petals back a ways. But they came back with renowned speed, and I was forced to use chain attacks to try and swat them away. But it did very little. They all swirled around my body, scratching any surface they could find. It was painful, but I refused to scream. He called them all back to him.

"See what I was talking about? You are at your limit. Your shikai bested my sealed form, but it does nothing against Zenbonzakura's shikai."

I clutched my left hip and stood up, "Then I'm afraid you're wrong again, Byakuya. That wasn't my shikai. That was merely my sealed blade!"

Byakuya's eyes widened as he realized, "That scythe is your sealed form? I'll be honest, no one has ever had a weapon like that as his sealed Zanpacto."

"We're both flattered", I bowed, flipping Banshi onto my back, "Echo, Banshi!" I called as he turned into his cybernetic sealed form.

"Impressive, but it is still merely a scythe. Nothing you do will change the outcome of the last attack. But what does Banshi mean?"

"Banshee, the screaming ghost. And it will change this time around." I said. Byakuya sent his blades forward and this time I sent out a shockwave that blew all of them back to Byakuya. Some of the petals even got stuck in his shoulder, drawing blood.

"Sound, so that's your power." His blade assumed sealed form again and he did several flash steps that eventually led back to me. He swung his blade, but flashstepped to my right in mid-swing and he caught my eye patch.

"What is that?" he said glaring at my right eye, "Are you…a hollow?"

"No. This is merely a battle scar from my first Menos Grande. While it was charging up a cero, I broke its mask. But it exploded in my face. The cero induced fractures took my eye, but they infected me to the point where my eye healed again, but with hollow properties. I'm just lucky that my friend was there to save me, or I _would _probably be a hollow right now. I just don't like showing this off." I fixed my eye patch. He instantly went for me as my guard was down and made another slash to my chest.

I groaned, dropping the eye patch going back into battle. We traded blows quickly and he flashstepped behind me once more. But I swung my blade behind me and impaled his right hip on the blade. He coughed up blood.

"Give up the ghost, Byakuya. You're just holding back because you know my sensei will come after you if you actually try to kill me."

He grunted and forced the blade out of him. "That does it. I'm finishing this right now!" he growled, letting his true anger show. But he tilted his blade upside down and dropped it saying one single word.

"Bankai!"

Suddenly we were surrounded by a row of giant blades, dozens of them. At first I thought that they'd all come at me at once as they were. But from the top to the bottom, they all dissolved into peach blossom petals!

"Uh-oh!" I muttered as I realized just what I was up against.

"Senbonzakura Kageyoshi." All of them rushed at me at once!

I fired out a shockwave from Banshi, dispersing some, but they all gathered up together in one giant cloud of blades.

"Do you still think that you are superior to me?" Byakuya asked coldly.

I chuckled slightly, "In terms of power, I guess not. I haven't achieved bankai. But I'm far from done! Echo to the sky! Banshi!" Banshi flipped into flight form and we blasted off into the sky, the petals coming close behind.

"You're just full of tricks, aren't you?" he pointed with his hands and the petals doubled in speed.

"Good thing I still have my trump card!" I muttered to myself as I said my incantation in English, loud enough for him to hear.

I then leaped out of flight and slammed my palm against the hole on Banshi's hinge, releasing a shockwave. However, the hole concentrated the sound so much that I merely heard a light _whoosh. _That concentrated sound shattered the cloud, sending Byakuya out of the way.

It was time. I finished the incantation and flashstepped behind him, ""**Hado Number Eighty-Eight:** **Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō!"**

Byakuya gasped as I grabbed his wrist and fired the hado square in his face!

"**Bakudo Number Eighty-One: Splitting Void" **an energy wall separated us, blocking the beam itself.

"I'm getting tired of this, Kuchiki!" I said, as I slammed Banshi into the beam, causing it to collapse. The wall broke right as it disappeared.

"Is that all?" Byakuya asked.

"**Thunder Clap!"** the area the beam went exploded and thunder blasted in our faces. I was sent tumbling end over end for over a hundred yards. Waiting too long before detonating it will cause the beam to backfire. Byakuya was firmly placed three feet deep in a silhouetted hole in the wall, an equal distance away from our original place.

There was a loud ringing in my ears, and my vision was fuzzy. Trembling, I stood up, relying on Banshi to stand upright. Byakuya began to remove himself from the wall, in just as bad a shape.

"Damn you!" I said holding my bleeding chest. I looked at my bloodied hand and then drew a three fingered slash mark over my right eye's hollow mask. Senbozakura began to gather again, and I began another incantation.

"That's enough, Valero!" I cut the spell as Toshiro Hitsugaya appeared. A large ice dragon extended from the blade of his Zanpacto and got in the way Byakuya.

"Lieutenant, you must stop this at once!" Izuru stood me up followed by Momo.

"Don't do this! If you keep this up, you'll both die!" she pleaded.

There was a short pause before I reached down for my eye patch and put it back on.

"You're right", I muttered to them, "That sick bastard's not even worth fighting." By this point, we reached the room where Renji was still resting.

"Look….I'm so sorry, but we have to follow orders. We must take Renji to prison" Izuru said glumly.

"But he could die!" Momo said.

"I did not just put my life on the line to have Renji die in a jail cell! I hate his guts too, but not enough to wish death on him."

"He's cold as ice. Isn't he?" a voice said in the corner.

"GOOD GOSH, NOOO!" I screamed in panic as I leaped up to the ceiling where I stuck Banshi, holding on for dear life. Standing right behind where I was before, somehow sneaking past my sonar, was Gin Ichimaru.

"Captain Ichimaru!" Momo turned to him.

"It makes you wonder if he's even got a heart inside of him. He is one scary guy for sure, that captain of Squad Six", Gin continued.

"TRY LOOKING AT YOURSELF IN THE MIRROR, GIN! DON'T EVER SNEAK UP ON ME LIKE THAT AGAIN!" I said in a comical fear fury.

"No offense taken, a lot of people say that about me. But why would I stop? It's always so much fun watching you jump out of your skin and climb up the wall like a cat up a tree. Nothing funny really happens around here, so I think it's rather nice to have a good laugh. But don't worry about Renji. I'll call in Squad Four so you won't get in any more trouble than you already have."

My fear left me for a moment and I opened Banshi's blade, hanging upside down by the handle, "Why didn't you drop in before? You could have spared me the injuries!"

"Like I said, not much fun happens here. And a lieutenant standing up to Kuchiki like that is certainly interesting. You could say you've left a good impression on me. But anyway, I'll take care of Renji."

"Would you do that? Really?" Momo said cheerfully.

"Absolutely! It's no problem! Come on, Izuru."

"Yes sir!" his lieutenant followed him out the door.

"Thank you, Captain Ichimaru!" Momo bowed.

"Wow! Renji's in bad shape! What a mess!" a voice said behind us, making both me _and_ Momo jump in shock. Banshi's hinge closed up suddenly and I hit my head on the ceiling before falling back down to the ground with my Zanpacto folded up.

"Toshiro?!" Momo turned to face him.

"DAMMIT HITSUGAYA!" I hopped back up in a comical fury, "It's bad enough that Gin's sneaking around trying to scare me, but I won't tolerate a double tap!"

"Hey, hey! Mind your manners now! You still have to address me as a captain, you know!" Toshiro said.

"You can forget about that! What is it with you captains creeping around silently?! And what were you doing sneaking up behind us like that anyway?!" she took to a similar tone as me before realizing something, "Wait a sec. What are you doing here, Toshiro? Where's your lieutenant?"

"I have come to warn you", he said looking around.

"About what?" Momo asked.

"Be careful dealing with Squad Three."

"You mean Izuru?" Momo asked.

"Actually, what I meant was Ichimaru. But watch Izuru too", he clarified.

"Like that wasn't already obvious?" I said, "You already know how much he creeps me out!"

"Then I see no problem for you", Toshiro smiled, "Momo, it's strange, and I wish I could give you more specifics. Just be careful!"

.

Later that night, Momo and I stood outside of Renji's cell. While it is true that he was sent to prison, a medic from Squad Four got the chance to clean his wounds and bandage him up. He patched me up too.

"That's all I can do for him for now. I'll be back to check on him tomorrow", the medic told us.

"Thank you very much", Momo said as she let him out and we both left the cell open as we sat beside the unconscious Renji.

"Oh Renji", she muttered, "Why did you have to fight the ryoka all alone? I don't understand. Does it have to do with Rukia?"

"What would his actions have to do with Rukia?" I asked.

Momo jumped, "Oh, no. I said that out loud. Didn't I?"

"You did", I smiled, sweatdropping a little.

"Well, it's just that he and Rukia were childhood friends and…no, it's a stupid idea", she shook her head, "they can't be connected."

I sighed and decided to act along, "I'm supposed to keep this top secret. But if you're concerned about Renji, then you deserve to know. I was at the captain's meeting earlier. This entire breach is because of Rukia. You see, from what I can understand, and the captains might not know this, but we have reason to believe that one of them is Rukia's substitute soul reaper, a mere human who saved hundreds of souls, and even played a part in killing a Menos Grande within a few days of obtaining power. From what I believe that this substitute and the friends that he and Rukia shared, are coming back to save her from the Sokyoku."

"Do you really think that's the case?"

"Well based on the captains' actions and my mom's interrogation of Rukia, that's what I've deduced."

"Wait. Your mom?" she asked and I suddenly covered my mouth, sweating profusely, "I get it now! Your mom is Lady Miharu!" I quickly covered her mouth in the first way that came to mind: a kiss on the lips. It startled her for a moment and I held it for a few seconds before pulling away. At that very moment she tried to put a little tongue in, leaving a trail of saliva behind. She blushed.

"If you dare tell that to anyone, I'll tell about what just happened. I don't quite know if I can trust you yet."

.

"So what is it, Momo?" Aizen asked her. Taking to Toshiro's warning, I had accompanied Momo to her captain's office, "Wasn't there something specific you wanted to talk about?"

"Yes. I was…." Momo tailed off for a moment.

"How is Lieutenant Abarai's recovery coming along?"

"He's stable, and not in any danger anymore", she said brightening up a little.

"I never thought I'd say this, but if it wasn't for Gin, Renji would probably have bled out by now."

"That's good to hear", Aizen picked up, "You're probably worried about what was decided at the meeting, aren't you? Captain Kuchiki wanted Renji discharged, but then he backed down when there were objections. So Renji will be allowed to return to his post once he's fully recovered."

"I'm so glad! I bet you were the one who objected! Weren't you, Captain?" Momo said.

"I wasn't alone. Most everyone recognizes that he's an excellent officer. Despite their differences, no one in the Thirteen Court Guard Squads would rejoice in Renji's dismissal. By the way, Ash, we also saw that you did a serious number on Captain Kuchiki in Renji's defense, and came to a draw even when you faced his bankai with your shikai. I've only seen that done by Kenpachi Zaraki. He doesn't even have a shikai you know. But regardless, it was determined that you fought _again _in self-defense, and for the wellbeing of a fellow lieutenant, so all charges have been dropped."

"Good!" Momo said relieved. She blushed, pausing for a moment before asking something, "Can I ask a favor?"

"What is it?"

"If it doesn't bother you, and I promise no more questions, I'll just sit here and watch. Could I stay with you a while longer?"

"Stay as long as you like, Momo", Aizen said warmly.

"Thank you!" Momo whispered.

"Actually, Momo, I need to ask you something in private", I tugged her out the door before leaning back in, "I'll give her back in a moment."

I walked away from his office with Momo. Banshi played soft guitar music as we walked, setting the mood that I didn't intend on making.

"Momo, what do you think of Aizen?" I asked her, "What makes him special?"

"Well", she blushed suddenly, "I don't even know where to start. He's wise, even in his age. He's kind, caring, and talented beyond compare! But lately, he's been acting strangely, and…..I'm just worried for him."

"It's probably the Squad Three thing that Toshiro was talking about. Aizen confronted Gin and he began to waver at the meeting. I'm sure he knows. And I've seen enough to understand just who he is. He has my respect. Trust me, he'll be alright. And I promise that you will be alright too." Damn! My heart was beating fast right then!

"I hope you're right", she said smiling up to me. Slowly she got in closer and I saw where this was going. I followed suit and our lips lightly pressed together.

I already told you how I was attracted to this sweet little girl. Banshi (damn him) had taken the initiative and set the mood for us with that soft Spanish guitar music in the dim light of the candle lit lamp.

She put tongue into this one slowly. Her lips and tongue were soft, but cool. My arms slid around her back and she slid hers around my neck and we gently caressed each other.

.

I had some pleasant dreams that night. But everything went haywire when I heard someone screaming. I bolted upright in my bed, in my mom's estate and looked out the window in the direction of the voice.

"Echo to the sky, Banshi! And step on it!" I rocketed off into the air

"Momo! Momo, where are you?!" I called out. I saw her far below on a bridge with the other lieutenants rushing in. I turned upwards, exited flight mode and landed on the bridge with a loud _THUMP! _

"Momo! What is it, Momo?! What happened?!" Izuru asked. But the girl just stared in absolute horror.

I looked in the same direction and felt a drop of blood on my nose, and another two on my lieutenant badge's cloth. I would have been disgusted by that, but what I saw far above me was worse.

"GAH!" I fell backwards and rapidly scooted back to the others terrified, "Look!"

There, eight stories in the air, was the bloodied body of Captain Aizen. He was pinned to the wall through the chest with his own Zanpacto!

"That's impossible!" Izuru exclaimed.

"He was murdered?!" Rangiku said in disbelief.

"Captain Aizen?" Momo muttered as she walked a few steps forward before falling to her hands and knees, "WHO DID THIS?!"

"No", I stuttered, walking over to the despondent Momo.

"What's all this racket, so early in the morning?" I froze at the sound of Gin's voice. We all whirled around to see him ten yards behind us. "Oh, that. Yes, it certainly is a tragedy." He spoke with a calm composed tone with that smile on his face.

"How the hell can you talk like that Ichimaru?! This isn't a tragedy! It's a nightmare! How the hell can you possibly be so calm?!" I yelled at him.

Suddenly, Momo growled and whipped out her Zanpacto, "IT WAS YOU!" She actually whipped her sheath out hard enough to knockme over the bridge's railing!

"Whoa! I have to get help! Echo to the sky! Banshi!" I took flight again as Momo began to fight Izuru (who stepped in to protect his captain).

"TOSHIRO!" I yelled, swooped down and picked up the young captain from his squad members as I passed.

"Put me down, Valero! What's the meaning of this?!" he yelled over the wind.

"It's Aizen! He's been murdered, and now Momo's trying to kill Gin!"

"Well spit it out then! Where are they?!" he said as I deactivated flight mode, startling Toshiro for a moment as we dropped to the bridge.

"Now it's time to drop the bass!" I wound up a strike and slammed Banshi into the ground, releasing a shockwave in between Momo and Izuru that launched them back, kicked up a cloud of dust, and had the sound of a deep electric guitar D.

They regained their bearings and charged again. But Toshiro and I were both in the dust cloud and we stopped them. I personally stopped Izuru.

"Put that sword down right now, or I snip you in half!" I yelled at him as Banshi's blade closed on Izuru enough to draw some blood on exposed skin andhold him in place.

"Let go of me!" he growled until an upper kick to the chin knocked him out cold.

"Place these two under arrest!" Toshiro commanded.

"Wait a minute!" Momo cried as she was taken captive by the other lieutenants.

"MOMO!" Toshiro barked, "At a time like this, you raise arms against your own?! Especially when your first priority should have been to take Captain Aizen's body down from up there! I will report this incident to the head captain. Get these two out of my sight! Lock them both up!" Momo was taken away with Izuru. Gin smiled cruelly to her as she passed and only spoke to us when they were all gone.

"Thank you Squad Ten Captain, and you too, Lieutenant Ash. Sorry you both had to waste your time on one of mine." All was silent for a moment as I tried to let it sink in.

"You know Gin, I believe that just now, you were going to kill Momo", Toshiro said.

"Now, whatever could you be talking about?" Gin said, smiling like the Grinch, but a little annoyance peppered his tone. _He's definitely the one._

"Play innocent if you like, but I'll tell you this: If you allow Momo's blood to be spilled, I promise you I'll kill you."

"Oh, how scary!" Gin mused, "But I suggest you keep an eye on her. You don't want any misfortune to befall her."

As the guards came to take the fallen captain's body down, shivers ran down my spine. I tried to reach for Banshi, but I just couldn't. My arms wouldn't move. All I could do was walk out of the crime scene like a zombie.

Just last night, everything was so peaceful (except for the Renji and Byakuya incidents). Aizen complimented me on my work while kindly allowing Momo to stay with him. And then there was that romantic moment with Momo. It was so hazy to me that it felt like a dream. But it was sweet and romantic all the same.

But in the end, this nightmare had befallen us and claimed the life of one of the soul reapers for whom I held the highest respect.

I had to get to the bottom of this, for Momo's sake.

(End of Chapter 6)

.

MHA-HA-HA-HA-HA! BEOWULF RETURNS!

It's been a while since I've posted anything and it's great to be back on track.

Even now there isn't much to say. For those of you reading Wings of Remnant, the story's going to be on hold for a little while for special reasons (partially because some of my stories haven't had much attention as of late.

As you can already guess, Ash is going to be all over the Aizen incident while battles are being fought throughout the Seireitei. This time he's doing it with a little something else in mind too (never expected him to fall for Momo, THAT was a shocker).

Until next time, this is Beowulf and the OC crew signing out!


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